Weakness Equals Strength
2 Cor 12:7-10, ESV
7 So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the 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 pleaded with 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." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so 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.
Weakness Equal Strength
(2 Cor. 12:7-10)
Intro:
A. We don’t equate Jesus with weakness, but great strength. We read about the temptations at the beginning of his ministry, we see Jesus face Satan and defeat temptation. Yet near the end of the ministry, Jesus tells the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem to die, to which Peter tells Jesus no, this must not happen. Then Jesus sharply replies, “Get behind me Satan.” For Jesus to say that, the cross and the sin of the world, must have been the greatest trial Jesus would face. Then that night finally came.
B. Jesus wanted the disciples to pray about not entering into temptation. The Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus was “greatly distressed and troubled.” He records that Jesus tells them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” Mark then records (READ Mk 14:35-36).
C. Luke gives us some details about the time in the garden before Judas arrives that is worded in a way that may be difficult for us to hear. Listen to Lk 22:39-44.
D. God the Father must have seen the entirety of mankind’s sin hanging in the balance. The cross is what Jesus must do; the very reason he came, was this hour. So God sends an angel from heaven to strengthen him.
E. When does weakness equal strength? When our weakness drives us to the One who is our strength. Jesus knew his time had come, and now, wrapped in strength with the help and love of the Father upon him, Jesus would face Judas and soldiers with power that comes from one who has given everything over to the will of God.
I. Weaknesses
A. I do not believe Jesus ever sinned, yet in times like I just shared, that I also believe Jesus was fully man as well as fully God in the flesh. Unlike Jesus, we have allowed our weakness to lead us to sin. We, like Peter, face temptation and fail the Jesus who loves us.
B. Like Peter, our sin may drive us to weep in shame and remorse, but sin became what we chose in the moment. Weaknesses are simply the places where we are the most vulnerable. If Satan looks to throw his darts at us, he seeks to find the places where we didn’t put on God’s armor as we should have.
C. If I am going to grow, I need to know the areas that are currently lacking in my spiritual walk. While I don’t believe self-deprecation is healthy, self-examination is part of our Christian walk. When we Communion together, I am reminded of what Paul said to the church in Corinth; that each person was to “examine himself” before he ate or drank the body of Christ. So examine you. There is no need for me to take the speck out your eye until I deal with plank in my own eye.
II. Boasting
A. Paul begins to bring 2 Corinthians to a close by bragging. He had just put himself up against these “super apostles” who were nothing more than false teachers and agents of Satan. Paul had to share with the church his credentials, but in doing so, it sounded like he was bragging. He ends that section with these words (2 Cor. 11:30).
B. Then he talks about a man who was taken up into the third heaven. As tells that story he says (2 Cor. 12:5-7). Paul says that his weakness was that he could become conceited. To “help him,” Paul was given a “messenger of Satan,” this “thorn in the flesh,” as a way God was helping Paul to remain grounded. But that wasn’t the way Paul wanted God to help him.
C. Paul does what so many of us do, he prayed. READ 2 Cor. 12:8-9 Paul humbly asked God three times about this “thorn in the flesh.” Most of the time, the answer I need to hear is the one Paul was heard.
D. I have prayed for God to fix me but it was probably because I didn’t want to do any work of repentance. God calls me to surrender to Him. To deal with my thorn in the flesh I had to admit my weaknesses.
III. Weakness Equals Strength
A. Paul’s statement becomes, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
B. Grace was experienced by Paul the moment he acknowledged the need and his own inability. Grace that was extended to him was greater than the thorn in the flesh he experienced. It was not God taking away that which tormented him, it was God letting Paul know that he was greater than that which tormented him. It was a calling by God to trust, even when Paul did not understand. That is part of what grace is.
C. Listen to 2 Cor. 12:10. This is where I want to be spiritually. When I am weak, then I am strong. It is an unusual statement. But Paul understands that strength only comes from the Lord. It is only when in facing my weaknesses that I realize how much I need God.
D. Jesus says to you and me, “MY grace IS sufficient for YOU.” The greatest problem every one of us faces is sin. But God’s grace is greater than our sin. When we are humble enough to come before him in repentance, we can rest in knowing grace that is enough.
Conclusion:
A. I don’t brag about my weaknesses as if I am proud of them, but I will brag about cross and power of the blood of Jesus that gives me grace that is greater than all my sin.
B. I stand before you as one who desires to walk in the pathway of righteousness; as one who seeks to live in step with Spirit of God; as one who relies upon the grace of Jesus.
C. I am saved and will one day be at home with my Lord. I thank God for what he has done and live in the joy of knowing I am in the hands of the creator who loves me. If we can help you stay strong by giving your weaknesses over to the grace of Jesus, then come as we stand and sing.
Because of Jesus,
Jeffrey Dillinger, minister