OceanSide church of Christ




Click here to see all of the YouTube videos belonging to OceanSide
(opens in a new browser)

 Previous Return to Sermons Next  Click to download Audio

FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN AM I STRONG

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.     We began this series of lessons on strength last year in connection with our theme.

 

B.      These lessons have developed into a series of their own.

 

C.     In this lesson we want to talk about weakness. 

1.       This doesn’t really seem logical since our focus is supposed to be on strength.

2.       We do so because Paul wrote:  “…for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

 

I.                    THE CONTEXT (2 Cor. 12:1-12)

 

A.     Background

1.       In the second half of 2 Corinthians, Paul is confronting the teachings of false teachers who have tried to poison the minds of the Corinthians against him. 

2.       Paul had taken the gospel into the city of Corinth near the end of this 2nd missionary journey (Acts 18:1).

 

After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.

 

3.       2 Corinthians 7:2 is the Key Verse of the book.

 

Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.

 

4.       In order to get the Corinthians to receive him, Paul defends his apostleship.  One of the evidences of his apostleship involved the visions and revelations that he had received.  These are the topics of Paul’s discussion in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, see v. 1.

 

It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory.  I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

 

5.       Notice Paul begins by saying it is not expedient for him to glory in these things.  This subject is noted several times in this text.

a.       “…yet of myself I will not glory…” (v. 5).

b.      “For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool…” (v. 6).

c.       “And lest I should be exalted above measure…” (v. 7).

 

B.      The Points of this Section.

1.       Divine Disclosures (2 Cor. 12:1-4)

a.       A man caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2).

b.      He “heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:4).

c.       When this happened, the man could not tell whether he was in the body or out of the body (2 Cor. 12:3).

d.      NOTE:  Most believe that the man in Christ was Paul himself.

2.       Evil Exaltation (2 Cor. 12:5-7)

a.       This type of a revelation could easily cause a person to become proud (2 Cor. 12:5-6).

b.      NOTE:  None of the false teachers who were discrediting Paul had ever had such experiences.

c.       God also knew Paul could be exalted by this experience.  So God intervened (2 Cor. 12:7).

 

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.

 

1)      This verse does not tell us exactly what the thorn in the flesh was.

2)      There have been many speculations such as poor eyesight.

3)      There may be an answer to this in the context as we continue to study.

4)      Whatever it was it was definitely something that plagued Paul

3.       Paul’s Petitions (2 Cor. 12:8)

 

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

 

a.       He followed in the footsteps of Jesus who prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane.

b.      Surely Paul’s prayer was an effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man (Jms. 5:16).

4.       God’s Grace (2 Cor. 12:9a).

a.       God did not remove the thorn in the flesh.

b.      We often say there three divine answers to prayer:  Yes, No, and Wait a while.   There is another:  “No, but try this instead” (See v. 9).

 

And he saith unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee…

 

c.       Paul would endure the thorn in the flesh by the grace of God. 

1)      Paul would be afflicted.

2)      Paul would endure.

3)      How?  By the grace of God.

4)      Therefore, God’s strength was made perfect in weakness.

5.       Remarkable Reaction (2 Cor. 2:9b-10)

 

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, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake:  for when I am weak, then am I strong.

 

a.       Here is an indication of what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was.

b.      Paul’s trials, tribulations, and persecutions are the things that kept him humble. 

1)      Yes, he had wonderful experiences as an apostle of Christ.

2)      However, he also suffered great affliction as an apostle.

3)      His afflictions kept him humble.

4)      Did he make it through them?  Yes.  How?  By the grace of God.

5)      In Paul’s weakness, God’s power shined forth brilliantly.

6.       Apostolic Authority (2 Cor. 12:11-12)

a.       In verse 11, Paul is apologetic that he has to use this language with the Corinthians. 

1)      Due to the situation, he was compelled to say these things.

2)      He states, however, that he should have been commended among the Corinthians rather than doubted. 

3)      They, of all people, should have known Paul was in nothing behind the chiefest apostles.

b.      He declares this because of the proof he offered them while with them (v. 12).

 

Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

 

II.                 THE COMPOUND

 

A.     Through the reproaches, persecutions and difficulties Paul suffered, he was made weak. 

 

B.      He was given a compound, however, that made him strong.  That compound was the grace of God.

1.       Paul understood his position while in Judaism (Rom. 7:24).

 

O wretched man that I am!  who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

 

2.       He was also keenly aware of the blessings brought to him through the grace of his Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 1:13-14).

 

Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious:  but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

 

3.       This grace was Paul’s focus.  It was his motivator.  It was his energy.  (I Cor. 15:10).

 

But by the grace of God I am what I am:  and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all:  yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

 

C.     Grace, if properly understood, is the compound that will make all of us strong.

1.       Listen to God’s words to Paul:  “My grace is sufficient for thee”(2 Cor. 12:9).

2.       We can be patient in trials.

3.       We can be steadfast in difficulties.

4.       We can be thankful when hope is dim.

5.       We can be energized when our personal strength begins to fail.

 

III.              THE COURSE

 

A.     God’s strength, not ours is magnified (2 Cor. 12:9)

 

…my strength is made perfect in weakness…

 

1.       God’s strength showed through in the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah who were both passed the age of childbearing.

2.       God’s strength was manifested in Moses, his brother Aaron, and a rod as they stood before Pharaoh, the leader of the world power known as Egypt.

3.       God’s strength shined when the walls of Jericho fell down without a shot being fired by the nation of Israel.

4.       God’s strength was displayed when Gideon’s three hundred men put to flight the armies of the Midianites.

5.       God’s strength flexed its muscle when Jesus burst the bars of the hadean realm and rose from the dead on the third day.

B.      We can glory and rejoice in every hardship imaginable (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

 

…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, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake:  for when I am weak, then am I strong.

 

1.       How do you do it?  Through the grace of God.

2.       Where do you find the strength?  Through the grace of God.

3.       What is your secret?  It’s no secret.  It is just the grace of God.

 

C.     God receives the glory.

1.       One of our purposes as Christians is to bring glory to God.

a.       “To whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen” (Gal. 1:5).

b.      “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus through all ages, world without end.  Amen” (Eph. 3:20).

2.       When we are weak, we cannot glory.  But, when victory is ours, even in our weakness, we do give God the glory.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.     Some forms of weakness are not profitable.

1.       It is not good to be weak in faith.

2.       It is not a positive to be weak in our practice of the Christian religion.

3.       It is not helpful to be weak in knowledge.

 

B.      There are times in our Christian service, wherein all we can be is weak.

1.       We do not fret.  We do not doubt.  We do not give up.

2.       We allow the strength of God to be displayed in our lives.

3.       We glory in our afflictions and let God’s name be glorified in all things.