His Grace Is Sufficient For Us

7-7-24

Hoonah-Hadley

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Call to Worship Psalm 48

Daily Verse 2 Cor. 12:9

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’. Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  According to HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, “Grace” is the unmerited favor of God, closely associated with mercy and forgiveness. “And He said to me…” The context of our lesson is a conversation between the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the Apostle Paul. But just as a reminder, every word, every breath of the Almighty has each and every one of us in mind. “All scripture is God breathed…profitable…for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the person of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17) Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. Grace is not new, it is listed 8 times in the Old Testament and 123 times in the New Testament. It was there in the “Old”, it is overwhelmingly present in the “New”, in the person of Jesus Christ, and, for the modern day believer, it will be there in the end. Grace is apparent as God lead the Israelites through the wilderness (Deut. 32:10), but even more so in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 16:8 where God kept His covenant with Israel even when the people violated it. If you want evidence that God’s grace is alive and well, we could superimpose these verses over today’s headline news and know that John Newtons 1779 hymn “Amazing Grace” is absolutely current and applicable for us today.

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Grace is God choosing to love us despite ourselves. “We are saved by grace through faith…it is a gift of God.” New Testament Ephesians 2:8. Old Testament Exodus 33:19 “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Grace has a name, comes to us in the form of a person, the person of Jesus Christ. John 1:14-17 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Grace is a gift from God and less we shrug our shoulders and are indifferent to this massive, eternal, all consuming gift, let us be reminded, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Read on there in the Gospel of John chapter 3 and get lost in His love for you. Do you see the difficult task it is to reign in the word of God, try as we may to contain it, it overwhelms us, saves us from ourselves and leaves us in awesome wonder, the amazing part of grace, how sweet the sound. Back to our lesson in 2 Cor. 12:1 “It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast…” We understand this is God’s word, but the Apostle Paul, called by God, saved by grace, often uses himself as an example to us in what to do and what not to do. Herein the sermon title and message, “Boasting”. If anyone has the right to boast, it is Paul, but he says it is “not profitable”.  If his boasting is not profitable, what does that say about ours? Boasting has its foundation in pride and Solomon said, “Pride goes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) Pride is destructive, period.

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Grace is God’s favor, His mercy, forgiveness, love. “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!” (Newton) 2 Cor. 12:2 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago…” The Apostle hasn’t said anything about this for 14 years!? “Caught up to the third heaven…Paradise…of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool…”  Now you can argue with me here if you like, but it sounds like Paul is saying, should you happen to go to heaven and come back to earth, you can boast about it, but other than that any boasting should be confined to our weakness. This is quite contrary to our nature, we tend to keep our divine experiences to ourselves lest folks think we are nuts, and we boast about hitting 3 triples in a Little League game in 1976 that folks will think more highly of us than an 11-year-old should of himself. Paul says, “don’t be a fool.” We are a foolish lot, aren’t we? Dr. VanDyne, in the pulpit for 50 years, once said: “Any fool can talk about the weather, may our conversations go deeper.” In its simplicity here, recognize “visions” and “revelations” for what they are, “God knows”, boast about what’s worth boasting about and “refrain, less anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.” It may be fun to have these conversations with an old friend about days gone by but the apostle says these things are not profitable, “for I will speak the truth.” Dear Lord, “Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14) It is one thing to boast about our victories but our “infirmities”, lack of power…moral weakness, a failing or defect in a person’s character?

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“Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” (Newton) Vs. 7 “And lest I should be exalted above measure…a thorn in the flesh was given me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me…” In Paul’s case we’re not sure what that “thorn” was, but whatever it was, it was not pleasing but painful. We tend to credit God with gifts that please us not harm us, but Paul is saying this “thorn” was “given” to him to “buffet” him. Other versions use the word “conceited” or “keep me from getting proud.” Anybody? Thorns? Paul’s trial was painful yet profitable, and so it is with us. The natural progression of verse 7 is humility, an ongoing theme in our daily walk with Christ. We can’t help but think of Job here and the discourse God has with Satan concerning him. In summary God gives Satan permission to “touch” everything that concerns Job except Job himself. “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not lay a hand on his person.” (Job 1:12) The Apostle Paul and Job are but 2 biblical examples of Satan conducting his business on earth, however, what Satan meant for evil, God meant for good. (Genesis 50:20) Vs 8 “Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord 3 times that it might depart from me.” As our Lord went to His Father 3x’s in prayer in the garden, so it is the Apostle Paul goes to the Lord 3x’s in prayer. Biblically speaking, 3 signifies completeness and perfection. Vs. 9 “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” For both Christ and Paul, the thorn remains, the cup is not removed, God has a purpose in the pain. Vs. 10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities…persecutions…for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” His Grace Is Sufficient For Us!  Give thanks for the thorn. Amen!