Lessons from their lives – Talk 28
Paul (Part Two)
Welcome to Talk 28 in our series, Lessons from their lives. Today we continue with the subject of Paul. Last time, we talked about Paul’s conversion and the vision he received on the Damascus Road.
We noted, among other things, that the Lord Jesus revealed to Paul:
God’s purpose for his life
Acts 26:16
Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.
Acts 26:18
To open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness…
The things he would have to suffer for the sake of Christ’s name
Acts 9:15-16
- But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.
- I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.’
Today we are going to consider:
The miraculous help God gave him to fulfill God’s purpose for his life
The things Paul suffered in fulfilling God’s purpose for his life
The miraculous help God gave him to fulfill God’s purpose for his life
This is summarised in Romans 15:17-19
- Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.
- I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done –
- by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way round to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
Examples in Acts
Acts 13. In Cyprus Elymas
Acts 14:3 In Iconium
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
Acts 14:8-10
In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, ‘Stand up on your feet!’ At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
Acts 16. In Philippi
Demon possessed girl delivered
Paul ans Silas delivered from Prison
Acts 19:11-12. In Ephesus
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to those who were ill, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
Acts 20. Eutychus
Acts 27 Shipwreck
Acts 28
Viper
Father of Publius
The sick of the island
The things Paul suffered in fulfilling God’s purpose for his life
In the light of the miraculous way God used Paul in miraculous signs and wonders, especially healing, we might wonder why Paul had to suffer at all. Yet, as we read through Acts we see that persecution and suffering seem to have gone hand in hand with the miracles that accompanied the preaching of the gospel. And in 2 Corinthians 11 Paul himself describes many of the things he suffered for the sake of the gospel.
In 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 he tells us how he:
- was in prison frequently…flogged severely… exposed to death again and again
- Five times received 39 lashes
- Three times beaten with rods… once pelted with stones…
three times shipwrecked… spent a night and a day in the open sea,
- constantly on the move… in danger from rivers… from bandits…from Jews… from Gentiles… in the city… in the country…at sea…. and from false believers.
- laboured and toiled… often gone without sleep…
gone without food… been cold and naked.
But in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Paul tells us of what was possibly a different form of suffering which he describes as a thorn in my flesh.
This is set in the context of Paul’s defence of his apostleship against the claims of those he calls false apostles (11:13).
Having referred to his abundant labours and frequent persecutions at the end of chapter 11, he goes on to speak reluctantly of visions and revelations which he has received.
He informs his readers that because of these surpassingly great revelations, in order to keep him from becoming conceited, he has been given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Read vv. 7-10.
- or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
- Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
- That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
What lessons for our lives can we learn from Paul’s experience in this passage?
What was the thorn?
Some people believe it was a sickness. Others argue that it was not.
In my book, Just a Taste of Heaven, I discuss the pros and cons and conclude that we cannot possibly be sure.
The verse is set in a passage where Paul is talking about weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties (v10),
but the word he uses for weaknesses can also mean sicknesses, so it would be foolish to be dogmatic either way. We simply do not know what the thorn was.
But does this matter? It’s quite possible that God had a purpose in not telling us what it was. This way there’s a wider field of application to our personal needs.
What we do know is that it represents some form of suffering which was:
physical (in the flesh)
extremely painful (a thorn, cf. torment)
a cause of weakness (for my power is made perfect in weakness)
The thorn was given
Presumably Paul means that it was given by God although he also describes it as a messenger of Satan
The best way to understand this is to look at the story of Job.
It was Satan who afflicted Job, but it was God who gave him permission to do so. God is sovereign. Whatever happens he has either caused or permitted.
The thorn was given for a purpose
In the case of Paul it was:
to keep him humble – to keep me from becoming conceited
to manifest God’s power – my power is made perfect in weakness.
God’s purpose for allowing a thorn in our lives might or might not be the same. The important thing to know is that there always is a purpose in what the Lord allows in our lives.
Paul prayed persistently for its removal
- Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’
The significant thing here is not the number 3. What’s important is that Paul kept on praying until he had an answer. (Cf. James 5:13 which literally reads: Is anyone suffering badly? Let him keep on praying).
God’s answer was not what Paul was expecting
No doubt Paul was expecting the thorn to be removed in answer to prayer, but on this occasion God said, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
Paul’s reaction
- Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
- That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I will boast… if we are weak or sick there is no need to feel ashamed
I delight… Paul could rejoice because what he suffered was for Christ’s sake. Despite physical weakness he was spiritually strong. Christ’s power becomes available to us when we are not strong in ourselves.
Conclusion
The fact that God uses a person like Paul in performing miracles to confirm the message of the gospel does not mean that he is immune from suffering. Quite the opposite. God does allow bad things to happen to good people.
But when he does there is always a purpose. If we are suffering it is always right to keep on praying until we receive an answer. This may be the removal of the suffering or the assurance that God’s grace is enough for us to be able to endure it.
And if that’s the case, then we can rejoice that God’s power is resting on us, that he has a purpose in allowing it (even if we don’t know what that purpose is) and that his grace in enabling us to bear it may well be a greater testimony to others than if he granted us a miracle of deliverance!
Gods Love in us is greater than any Healing miracle ever has been. Miracles are as a “sign for the unbeliever” and “God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform” What I have learnt is ;– God never gets things wrong and his ways and Timing are perfect. In his Love and Grace we are complete.
As always, your teaching David is helpful and instructive. Great series! Thank you for being obedient to your ‘heavenly vision’ Blessings to you and your dear wife.