Miscellaneous

Made Perfect in Weakness

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels, and Sermons

Lesson: 2-2

Genre: Talk

Track: 2

Dictation Name: RR321A2

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. Praise ye the Lord, sing praises unto the Lord, sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in Him that made him, let the children of Zion be joyful in their king. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, make us every joyful in our King, Jesus Christ. Give us a spirit of victory that we may go forth into every area of life and thought as more than conquerors. Teach us oh Lord by Thy Word and by Thy Spirit, that we have been called to victory; and grant that our hearts and our lives be a song of praise unto Christ our King. In His name we pray, amen.

Our scripture is 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, our subject Made Perfect in Weakness.

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

2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

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.

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

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 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.”

This text is a very controversial one, in the past century or more Paul has been raked over the coals by modernists for this passage. Some have said that the thorn in the flesh, the infirmity of which Paul speaks was epilepsy. The only reason for that atrocious comment is that Paul describes his visions in Revelations and these fools that anyone having such experience cannot be normal, therefore he had to be an epileptic. Others have said that it was Paul’s weak eyes. Again we need not concern ourselves with that, or with a variety of other theories as to what the thorn in the flesh meant.

What is most important for us is the meaning of it, rather than what it actually was. Moreover, it had something to do with meeting the public perhaps, something that was a problem. It could have been a number of things; Paul was apparently not very commanding in appearance, Paul was not a dynamic speaker, he apparently was preaching over people’s heads a good deal of the time; it could have been another or a number of other things.

What we do know is this: Paul was under severe criticism by the Corinthian church. His right to be called an apostle was challenged. The Corinthians were claiming visions and boasting of their visions and spiritual experiences, and exalting themselves above Paul. They were calling attention to Paul’s weaknesses, his appearance for one thing. And so Paul was facing a very difficult situation; as the pastor of a church, although a missionary pastor who was away from the congregation, he had a rebellious church, a sinning church, and a church that was not only in sin with regard to its conduct internally, but in its relationship to Paul.

Paul speaks then of an experience of fourteen years previous. Now this cannot be confused with his Damascus experience, his conversion, because that was twenty years prior to the time of second Corinthians. He speaks of visionary experiences. He does not boast of these visions, although if he had acted as other men he would have; it would be a logical occasion for boasting. But instead Paul calls attention to his weakness. The experience of Paul is without equal- we cannot explain it when he himself says he could not. The experience is not his doing, so he makes it clear he cannot glory in it. The implication of course is that no one in Corinth can boast or glory of their experiences, because they are the work of God, not of man.

He speaks then of the third heaven. Now in the language of the day the first heaven was the atmosphere in which birds fly, the second heaven was the region of the sun, moon and stars; the third heaven the habitation of God. Paul says that he heard unspeakable words, that is ideas communicated to him apart from the usual means of speech. He says that these were not lawful to be made known to others; God keeps the glory of that future veiled from us. God asks us to walk by faith, not by sight.

Paul furthermore refuses to boast in this experience. He wants to be known only by what men see him to be. And then in verse 6 Paul rejoices that in himself he is nothing; that Paul the Apostle is not a commanding figure, that what these men say about him in Corinth and elsewhere is true, insofar as they are speaking of his appearance. And Paul says: ‘Good. I want nothing to detract from the word I speak, or create a special interest apart from it. Let the word have the preeminence, so that as men hear me speak they do not say: “What a powerful speaker that man Paul is.” Or: “What a commanding figure he is.”’ No, Paul does not count in speaking, the Word does.

Then in verse 7 he speaks of a thorn in the flesh. It is as Lensky renders it: “A messenger of Satan to fisticuff me.” But he also says: “It is given to me, that is, from the Lord.” This thorn did not incapacitate Paul for his work, but it did give him pain at all times. It is a weakness of some sort in his human nature, and it troubles Paul deeply. It is a humiliation, it is a problem.

So Paul makes it a matter of prayer, and he has an answer from God; God instead of saying: “I am going to remove this weakness from you Paul, I am going to spare you the humiliation or the embarrassment of this weakness, so that people will no longer feel, well ‘what a pity that Paul is thus and so.’ Rather, He says: “My spiritual strength is sufficient. Because, Paul, it is only by means of this conscious weakness that perfect power is developed in your life.” And Paul says: ‘It is when I am therefore consciously weak, when I know as I face people that I cannot put confidence in myself, that I am really strong; because my weakness makes me trust in the Lord.’”

As a result, God’s strength is perfected and most clearly revealed in and through Paul because of Paul’s weakness. ‘God says the weakness is the condition of my manifesting my strength. The weaker my people are, in and of themselves, the more conspicuous is my strength in sustaining and delivering them.’

Paul is the great apostle of the New Testament, and yet Paul throughout his apostleship had this thorn in the flesh. He was called out of season as it were, the great apostle, but in a sense not on the same level as the others who had been with the Lord. He begins under a cloud, having had a part in the murder of Stephen. On top of this, he has still another problem which makes him feel less sure of himself as he meets people. But God says: “Paul, for the great ministry I have called you too, your weakness is a necessity.” The Lord does not help those who feel strong, who feel they can on their own bear up under all affliction and are able to withstand all temptation; the Lord leaves all such people to their own resources. Only those who know their own weakness and confess it receive the Lords strength.

The thorn will not overcome Paul, but it will enable God and Paul to overcome. It was thus Paul’s weakness that made him so great a tool for the Lord. In the same way, God uses us. When we know what we are and how weak we are. Where others would boast, Paul who having had visions could have boasted; but what does he do? As against the boasts of the Corinthians, he confesses weakness, and he says to the Corinthians: “The Lord has used me precisely for this reason. You Corinthians who are puffed up, who are so confident of your moral strength and your Christian virtue, who feel so superior to me and so very strong, God has not and will not use you for that very weakness.

Paul presents as the proof of his apostleship his weakness, and his awareness of it, plus, his trust in the Lord. Paul says: “If I want to boast I will not be the fool, for it will be nothing but the truth that I will tell you. But I will refrain from boasting, I will refrain from claiming superior revelations because my rating does not come from superior revelations, but only from the grace of God.” The Corinthians boasted of their religious experiences, and witnessed to their experiences rather than the Lord. Paul unwillingly speaks of his experiences; for the first time in fourteen years, not to boast but to confess his weakness. Paul’s weakness thus is the Lord, and not his experience.

Too often, when people talk about their experience what they are in effect saying is: “See how important I am in the Lord’s sight. See what mountaintop experiences I have, and how important I am in the eyes of the Lord that I am given such an experience.” But Paul, after fourteen years silence, and then only under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, refers to his revelations; not to boast, rather he uses the revelations as an occasion to confess his weakness, a thorn in the flesh, and what God has to say about weaknesses.

If we confess our thorn in the flesh to the Lord, the weakness in our human nature or the weaknesses, then the Lord can use us. Paul had a thorn in the flesh. I am afraid most of us would have to say we have not a thorn in the flesh, but we are like a pincushion, having rolled in bramble bushes and covered from head to foot in thorns; and what do we do? We boast, or we glory in what we are.

This is why Paul was used, and this is why Paul, inspired of God, gives us his experience, that we might confess our weaknesses and glory only in the Lord. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, we than Thee for this word, for Paul’s experience, and for the glorious assurance that Thy strength is made perfect in weakness. However thou didst redeem us when we had more than weakness, when we were dead in sins and trespasses. Now in our weaknesses we cry out unto Thee, we who are covered with thorns. Lord have mercy on us. Make Thy strength perfect in and through our weaknesses. In Jesus name.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.