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We're starting a little late, aren't we? How was it this morning? Did your car start? Obviously, you made it. Right?
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Good to see you all. Good morning. You know why we're here? We're here to worship Jesus. He is the reason for this season.
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So would you stand up and, from Psalm 102, worship the Lord with gladness and come before him singing with joy. We have a lot to be joyful about. We have the gift that keeps on giving. That's Jesus. So what do you say?
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Let's sing to him. Angels from the realm. Angels from the realms of glory. When your flights o'er all the earth. Ehuzan creation story now proclaimed on Sion's birth.
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Come and worship. Come and worship. Worship Christ, the newborn king. Amen? Shepherds in the fields of binding, watching watching o'er your flocks by night.
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God with men is now residing, yonder shines the infinite light. Come and worship, come and worship. Worship Christ, the newborn king. Sage is leave your contemplations brighter visions beam afar seek the great desire of nations Ye have seen his natal star. Come and worship.
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Come and worship. Worship Christ, the newborn king. That's why we are here. Saints before the old serpenting, watching long in hope and fear. Suddenly, the to the Christ the new born king worship worship Christ the new born king
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Hey, alright. I'm up. Y'all can have a seat. I've got a couple of announcements. We do two songs in the second service and one song in this one before I do these announcements.
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So, welcome. Glad that you're here. The other night, Christmas Eve, that's like my favorite service of the year. It's not because I have less to do, but I I really, really enjoy that Christmas Eve service, and having a completely full house, packed house is amazing. People showing up thirty minutes ahead of time is crazy.
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We never see that. But it was a great time and I just want to thank Carl for that. Man, I don't ever do that but I appreciate you and yeah. Sorry. I didn't mean to do that.
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Embarrass you but no children's church today or next week. It will resume on January 10. So, the kids are welcome to stay in here during the sermon this time. There's no Monday night tomorrow night. Believe it or not, there's no Monday night happening on Monday.
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But we are, I think, spent. We're pretty much spent and so, we're not going to do Monday night tomorrow night. That's the twenty eighth. We'll resume that on January 4. We're saving you a spot that night but no Monday night tomorrow night here.
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And everything else, it's in the bulletin. Y'all know how many announcements we've had for so long, and it's looking like just peace for a little while. So all of the normal stuff that we didn't mention not happening is still happening, so there's still a lot going on. But we just love you. Thank you for being here.
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Would you stand up and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a song. Anything else? Nope. Nope. Alright.
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Welcome and hug somebody. Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconcile joyful all ye nations rise join the triumph of the skies with angelic post proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem the herald angels and
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the
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Christ the everlasting lord are laid in time behold him come offspring of the virgin's womb veiled in flesh the godhead sea hail the incarnate deity pleased as man with men to dwell Jesus our Emmanuel the herald angels sing glory to the new born king hail the heaven born prince of peace hail the son of righteousness light and life to all he brings risk with healing in his wings mild he lays his glory by born that man no more may die and born to raise the sons of birth born to give them second birth
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Alright. Good Christian friends.
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You ready?
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Good Christian friends rejoice with heart and soul and voice. Give ye heed to what we say. Jesus Christ is born today. Hawks and them before him bow. He is in the manger now.
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Christ is born today. Christ is born today. Good Christian friends rejoice with heart and soul and voice. Now ye hear of enmispess. Jesus Christ was born for this.
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He has opened heaven's door. We are blessed forevermore. Christ was born for Christ was born for this. Christian friends rejoice with heart and soul and voice. Now ye need not fear the grave.
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Jesus Christ was born to save. Calls you one and calls you all to gain his everlasting all. Christ was born to save. Christ was born to save.
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Lord, that's why we're here. You have indeed come. You have been born to save us. And so we we just continue to celebrate, your birth, your life, your death, your resurrection. But right now, we're kinda looking looking back on the manger scene that you're so gracious and so kind to come and meet us right where we're at, us broken people in a broken world, to redeem us.
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And, we're we're we're here to worship you.
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Oh, come. Oh, come, me man you wail, and ransom captive Israel. And that mourns in lonely exile here until the God of God appear. Rejoice. Rejoice.
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Rejoice. Emmanuel shall come to thee your ears right. Oh, come thou desprinkled and shear. Our spirits by thine adventures and drive away the shades of night and pierce the clouds and bring us light. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee your Israel.
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Oh, come thou art of Jesse, stand from every foe deliver them that trust thy mighty power to save and give them victory over the grave. Amen. Rejoice in that. Rejoice. Rejoice.
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Emmanuel shall come to thee your Israel. And make safe the way that beats all night, that we no more have caused you sigh. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to be your Israel. One more rejoice. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee your
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God, we wanna pause this morning just to thank you as being light in a dark world. And that's that's really why you came. I think of the verse from Luke 30 Luke two. Jesus, he is a light to reveal God to the nations. He is the glory of your people, Israel, to save us all from this the power of of of darkness, sin, and death.
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And I pray that you would continue to make that light shine in and through us. I thank you, God, for every good and perfect gift that you give. We realize that we're here simply because of your grace. I thank you that you blessed us in in many ways and as we as we participate here in the worship through giving, I pray that this would be one more expression of our our our love and our adoration toward you. Amen.
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You all can be seated.
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Thank you, Florine. So, Christmas is has passed. Y'all know that, right? So, we're back to second Corinthians. I I went straight back to it.
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I considered actually a sermon on worship and I think that that one's a week or two out still. It didn't quite get done and I mean, like, it's in the oven but it didn't quite get done. Trust me. It's about worship in the New Testament. So, that one's coming in the next couple of weeks.
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We're closing in on the end of second Corinthians and I have been probably more I don't know. It's it seems like God's been growing us all through this whole whole thing and it's amazing to me how it lines up for the week. Paul's going to talk about his God's strength being made perfect in weakness and probably straightforward, Carl and I, I think I can speak for him, probably feel weaker right now than we have all year. So, pray for us. I don't say that for your pity.
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I'm just telling you, it's amazing to me how every single week, God uses what it is. We're just feeling a little raw, a little spent, and we love it. We love what we do. Don't get me wrong. It's not y'all.
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Trust me but I'm just being straight up. Now, watch when Paul goes through this and see where he puts his emphasis and I I I plan to just present it just what it says. So, Paul's continuing his self proclaimed, foolish boasting. Now, several weeks ago, we did a sermon before the Christmas play, before all of our festivities that we have been doing. I presented two chapters, ten and eleven where Paul was just angry and there's no doubt about it and then I talked about my Nepal trip and how I was kinda angry.
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I equated the super apostles to the folks that I had been with at the beginning of that trip and so the ones of you who are here and remember that, this is good ones of you who don't, don't worry about it. We're going do something completely different today. I'm trying not to be get drawn back into that but Paul has said it was foolish boasting but he does it for a reason. He does it for an effect on this on the Corinthians and it still hangs over to today. So, this foolish boasting that Paul says is actually an instruction in godliness but he's been drawn into an argument he would rather not have had.
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Does that make sense? Kinda. Alright. Are you still hung up about why is Ray upset? Why is Paul?
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Why why why are Carl and Ray not not feeling good? No, it's not that. Trust me. I'm admitting it upfront because you're gonna see it in a few minutes. So, here we go.
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Paul, I love it. He uses sarcasm again. I actually did download the sarcasm font this time. So, when you seen those italics that are leaning the wrong direction, that's the sarcasm font. I must go on boasting.
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Though there's nothing to be gained by it, he says. I will go on now to visions and revelations of the Lord. Now, two verses before this, he had been saying, oh, here we go again. I'm boasting again but I've been drawn into it. You've drawn me into this.
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So, I'm going to I'm going to go with you, okay? So, I must go on boasting now though there's nothing to be gained by. If there's nothing to be gained by, he would not have written it, okay? I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man, Paul says, I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago, fourteen years ago.
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So, this was written about '56 or fifty seven AD, somewhere right around '56, fifty seven AD. The way they counted time back then, it could have been anywhere from '42 to forty four AD when this event happened, this man that Paul knows. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up. Now, I'm going to mention this several times today. The was caught up there is a divine passive.
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It's saying that he didn't catch himself up. He was not the instigator in this. He's saying that God caught him up into the third heaven. And by third heaven, he could've said seventh heaven, he could've said tenth heaven, he could've said a hundredth heaven, the highest level of heaven is what he was saying. You remember a few months back, I said that heresy thrives on incomplete understanding and felt need.
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You remember that? Heresy thrives on incomplete understand. Don't make this, oh, three levels of heaven and one of em is this, one of em is this, and one of em is this. The Bible does not go into that. Paul's just using this as a superlative.
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I went into the place of God. The very place of God where I got to see him or where this man, he's saying at this point, where this man was caught up. God brought him up into the third heaven. Now, whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know but God knows. He's saying, I'm not sure exactly how this works.
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I don't know if it was in the body, out of the body. I don't know if it was an ecstatic thing where it was a vision or a dream in a trance. I'm not sure. Don't know. But God knows.
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He came out of it. This man, whoever this was at this point. Came out of it having a a greater confidence in God that God knows, okay? I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago knows, fourteen years ago, the grammar on this is hard to express in English but he's saying that this fourteen years ago thing is still continuing with this man. Does that make sense?
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It happened fourteen years ago but it's never left him since. This experience where he was caught up into the third heaven. Whether in the body or out the body, I do not know but God knows and I know that this man who was caught up in the paradise. So, now, the third heaven is paradise. It is the place of God.
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There's no doubt about this. He says, this man was caught up in the paradise. Whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know. He says it again. Not sure.
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But this man, a man in Christ, now, all of this, a man, this man stuff that he's done so far is ileism. Do you know what ileism is? Anybody? Does this help you? Does it help at all?
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No? Bob Dole. Bob Dole never does this. You remember Bob Dole? This has been a long time.
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I'm older than that thing. 1996, the presidential campaign, Bob Dole's always was referring to himself in the third person. Okay, any wrestling fans, The Rock, you know, The Rock, he always referred to himself in the third person. At this place in scripture, Paul is referring to himself. Now, he says, amen in Christ fourteen years ago.
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He knows the details about this man. Okay, how about this? Somebody comes into my office for counseling or not for counseling. They come in. They say, I have a friend.
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There's this guy and he has a problem. It's iliism. It's sometimes for rhetorical effect. Sometimes, it's actually like a slave or a servant would use this in old times, medieval times. They come in and say, a servant needs to be punished.
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I mean, and he needed to be punished but it's a way of distancing oneself for whatever reason. Paul is doing that right here and then he makes a turn in just a minute. So, oh man, this man, he says, he was caught up in the paradise, caught up into the third heaven. God is the one who did that, the divine orchestrator brought him into that place Whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know. Doesn't matter.
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It doesn't make any difference because God does know and what he came out of the experience with, we'll see in just a minute. So, that's Elias and Bob Dole. Y'all really don't remember Bob Dole? Yeah, you do. Some of you do.
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Okay. Alright. I didn't think he was that forgettable. And I know that this man was caught up in the paradise whether in the body or out the body, I do not know. God knows and he is still doing it.
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He heard things that cannot be told. Which man may not utter. He saw in paradise. God. But he says that he heard things and he saw things that he could not utter.
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Was he forbidden to utter them or are they just inexpressible? We hear, we have enough places in script scripture where it says, the joy is inexpressible, full of glory, and the peace is without that's beyond understanding. It's inexpressible. He heard things that cannot be told which man may not utter. On behalf of this man, I will boast.
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That man who had that experience, he says, I'll boast on that. But on my own behalf, for my benefit or for my elevation, I'm not gonna boast. Does that make sense? Are you with me that it's illyism? Do you believe me?
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Everybody believes it's illyism. It's not just me. I'm not crazy. On behalf of this man, I will boast but not on my own behalf. He's not elevating self.
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He's just saying that I know a guy, okay? Fourteen years ago, this happened. It's still continuing with him to this day. There's no doubt in his mind about God knowing. He came out with a greater confidence in God but I'm boasting not about this but on my weaknesses.
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Now, chapter 11, we went through that long list of being out in the ocean for a night went or the sea out for a night for being beaten so many different times. The boasting of his weaknesses he did for the whole chapter chapter 11. He goes on from on behalf of this man, I will boast but not on on my own behalf. I will not boast except in my weaknesses though if I should, Paul says, if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool. It would not be foolish boasting because it happened for I would be speaking the truth.
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But I refrain from it. Now, he's doing this on purpose. He's saying, I'm not going to boast about what happened in that place. I'm not going to tell what's happening in that place because that is not what matters. This ecstatic experience at the time, there were some Jewish Jewish mystics that believe that you had to have absolute personal, divine revelation and they talked about their divine time with God.
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How many times do we hear that these days? We hear about people that say, oh, I had a vision. Had a vision from the Lord very specifically that and then I saw this and then I saw that and then I saw this and they go into the vision to the point. Well, wow. It's really easy to get caught up in that and it's really easy to then start to elevate that guy for the experience that he has had with God.
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If they're not pointing back at what his word says, if they're not saying what is gospel truth, then, Paul has refrained from it and I think he's saying that we should refrain from it too. I don't doubt that ecstatic experiences happen. I'm saying, Paul refrains from it though. He refrains from talking about it. He holds back.
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He says that man should not utter it. He shouldn't go into it but I refrain from it so that no one would so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. Paul does not tell anything at all of the content of his third heaven, Revelations. Nothing. Did you notice that?
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He had em but he doesn't say anything about what they were. That's very odd for this time period and for today. If somebody feels like they've had a heavenly, divine revelation. They feel like they have to tell the whole world about or write a book about it. So that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
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Think about that for a minute. The so that there is really really important. I'm not going to tell you about this mystical even to me. I don't know whether it was in the body or out of the body. I'm not sure.
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But God knows and have a greater confidence in him because that happened. I could say the things that I say about him from the gospel. Yeah. With more clarity now because I have a greater trust in him. So that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me so that no one more may think more of me than he sees in me or hears of me.
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You don't have to judge me, Paul says, by what I say about my mystical experiences with God but judge me by how I love. Judge me by the validity of my message. The gospel's power to change, right? The message of the cross. The power unto salvation for all who believe.
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He's saying, judge me by the validity of my message. This works. The way of the cross is the only thing that works and that's what I'm going to keep on preaching. So, judge me by that and by the way I live my life. Everything that I do and say, you can judge But there's no need for this talk of mystical experience.
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I don't have to go into that. I like that. That that frees me up. I like that. Uh-huh.
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He's saying that this is for the people. This is for everybody. That this mystical experience, the other guys, the super apostles, we're talking about their visions, revelations, and comparing them one to another and one upping each other. And Paul is saying, yeah, yeah, that it does happen, but that's not what it's about. It's really about Christ.
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It's not about me and my experience, it's about Christ and what he experienced on your behalf. The perfect life lived, the perfect death. For your imperfect life, would you accept him and let him start to change your life? Let his grace start to change your life. So, here we go.
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Keep on going. So, to keep me, Paul says, now, he changes it right there from that man, this man, he, all of that. He changes it. Turns on a dime and says, so to keep me from becoming conceded because of the surpassing greatness of these revelations and this is an ongoing verb too where it's like, hey, fourteen years and it's still with me. It's very very real to me in my life.
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To keep me from becoming conceded because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations. A thorn was given. Again, divine passive. So, he was caught up, was caught up in the paradise, was caught up in the third heaven, and then this thorn was given. Divine passive.
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No doubt about it. God gave him this thorn in his flesh. And it seems from all the grammar and everything surrounding this passage. It seems that it happened at the same time as this divine revelation. It seems that it happened at exactly the same place in time where this miraculous, mighty, mystical thing happened.
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He was also given this thorn in the flesh. A messenger of Satan actually was given by God. I'll clarify that. To me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, messenger, like we've said during Christmas, messenger, angel, messenger, that's the word on glass. It's a satanic angel.
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He says, metaphorically that or maybe literally. He's was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan that is sent there to harass me. It pursues me constantly To keep me from becoming conceded To keep me from becoming conceded. To keep me from becoming a city. He said that twice Does that make sense?
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He knows that it's Christ and not Paul because Paul and his flesh, he sees what he would do. He would go the wrong way every time but because of Christ, he is able to keep on going and he keeps on going here but I want you to see it's to keep me from becoming conceded. He recognizes that a problem in his life, something that he sees that he would rather not have. Is to keep him from becoming conceded. I tell you what, standing on this platform whether it's leading music or standing on the platform and they're preaching for Carl or for me, when you stand up here, it's there's something to this where when you're the one upfront, people tell you really nice things about you a lot of the time.
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They can't all be believed. I know me. That's what Paul's saying. The thorn in the flesh. Now, what it was?
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We could go on and on. Scholars have argued over what it was. Some people think it was inner stuff. That's been a, it's been a while since that was a really popular view that it was inner turmoil of lust or inner turmoil of a desire to sin in some particular way and that's the thorn in the flesh. It could be.
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That's a possibility that it could be because a thorn in the flesh is a metaphor. So, it could be that. It could be something physical. Most people think nowadays that it's physical. In fact, a lot of people think it's his eyesight.
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Either he had macular degeneration or glaucoma or he'd been beaten so many times that he was probably blinded in one eye and barely could see out of the other. We don't know. He doesn't go into the content of that either. He just says it was a thorn in the flesh. It was something to keep him humble.
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Was it? We don't know. Okay Do you know what your thorn in the flesh is? I know what mine are That's plural by the way. I know what mine are Paul's was singular but that I think he's been a it's a metaphor.
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It could be more than one thing It was something there though that was God given so that he would not become conceded. So, we shouldn't think anymore of ourselves than we ought. You know, that's what he's saying. So, three times, I pleaded with the Lord about this thorn in the flesh that he gave me. Three times, I pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me.
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I just don't want to have this anymore. God, take it away. Please and he's praying earnestly, seeking after God. I'm sure he's wanting holiness and he's wanting to be effective in what he does and so he's praying and thinking that God can use him better if if he'd get rid of this, whatever it is, whether it's sin or physical ailment or his ability to speak. Oh, he's mentioned that multiple times in this letter.
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Moses did too, right? Stammering tongue. I don't he can't get out of his own way in person talking to people. He has a hard time. His letters are weighty but his speech is worth nothing in person.
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That might have been it. Could've been it. Sounds like it to me. I know the feeling. Stage fright is one of mine.
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I have the worst stage fright of anybody that I know. I do this every Sunday. I I have horrible, horrible stage fright but but where he goes next is what gets me through this. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me but he, that's Christ, no capital H there but he, Christ said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. My grace is going to have to do, Paul.
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My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness. Amen. And for me, when I knew that I was coming here to do this, it scared me to death. It scared me something awful because standing up in front of people, I passed out in front of an English class, people.
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I have had several times where this was just debilitating And God says, nope, I'm not gonna take it away. I said those Christmas Eve services are my favorite ones of the year when we were doing the offering during the first one the other night, it hit me. Stage fright. It hit me and I saw somebody out the corner of my eye get up and leave during the part where I was I was starting right before the offering. Probably my most uncomfortable position in church is is feeling like from my position up here that I'm manipulating people into doing something different.
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I've told you many times. I have no interest in changing your action. I want God to change who you are and for that to change your action. I I I'm more concerned with being than with doing much more and so if during the offering, I feel like God has given me a specific thing to talk about and it's laying your gifts down before the Lord and I start to say that and I get I see somebody get up and leave. Stage fright.
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Oh, that's what I thought. I had that moment of sheer terror and then I backed out of it and I did not say what I wanted to say. Now, in the second service, I found out that that guy went to the airport to pick up his kids. And so, said exactly what I wanted to say, the way I wanted to say it. So, the first service though, it left a huge gap.
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I didn't mention that the offering was for local benevolence, I didn't mention a whole bunch of stuff that I meant to mention because I froze. I hate it when God does this. Where it's like the weakness sermon. So, here we go. Here it is.
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Just remember what this is like. Fourteen years, it's been a whole lifetime for me But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you and he uses it in this sermon. Is that ridiculous? It's ridiculous. How that works to me?
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It's crazy. My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in your weakness. Whatever it is. Whatever it is. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses.
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So, I've been drawn into the foolishness too. Therefore, I'll boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses for my grace is sufficient for you. Christ said it directly to Paul. He's saying it directly to you. He says it directly to me.
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When we don't feel like we can do something, we don't feel, we feel like we're out of our depths. My grace is sufficient for you, for my powers made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I'll boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Now, was it last week? Last week, we talked about whether the verse actually says, the angels saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, and goodwill toward men, universal call, which yes, it it does mean that and or the other translation which is glory to God in the highest and on earth.
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Peace upon those on whom God's favor rests. Amen. So that the power of Christ may rest on me. I'll boast in my weakness. I will not boast about anything except for my weaknesses.
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I'll boast in Christ but I'm not going to boast in self. So that the power of Christ may rest on me. Amen. For the sake of Christ then, for Christ's sake. You know, we use that now.
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Most time it says a curse but Paul is very sincere when he says, for Christ's sake, not for my own, not on behalf of this man. For Christ's sake, then I'm content with weaknesses, with insults, with hardships, with persecutions, and with calamities. For when I am weak, then I'm strong. When I'm weak, then I'm strong. Amen.
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Do y'all understand this? Do y'all get it? Can we close our eyes and raise our hands if we get this? Just checking. Yeah.
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When I'm weak, then I'm strong. That's the way that it goes. Paul's utter dependence upon God rests here, right there. His ability to resist pride rests here. In that God given thorn in the flesh.
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Now, some people want to concentrate on it being a messenger of Satan. The devil's God's devil, okay? He's a creative being. It's not a yin and yang where good and evil are equal. God wins, okay?
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God is good. And he uses the devil. Upon this God given thorn in the flesh, Paul's utter dependence upon God rest. His ability to resist pride is right there. So, I've been a fool, Paul says.
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Here I go. Did it again. I've been a fool. You forced me into it for I ought to have been commended by you. You should have taken up for me, people.
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When these super apostles start all that nonsense about their revelations and their visions and whatnot, you should have just taken up. They said, Paul says, it's really about Christ. Paul says, it's really about the message of the cross. That Christ was the only perfect one, that they're not perfect. I've been a fool.
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You forced me into it. For I ought to have been commended by you, for I was not at all inferior to these super apostles. Even though I am nothing. And he means that. He's saying, I'm not inferior to them and I'm nothing.
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They're nothing too. They shouldn't be confused about this. Christ is the only one that's superior. Christ is the only one. Even though I am nothing and he means it.
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The chief of sinners, he called himself, right? The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders, and mighty works. When he says, with signs and wonders and mighty works, that first part, the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience is not instantaneous miracles. Do do you get that? Instantaneous miracles require no patience.
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Are you with me there? I'm not saying God can't do em with signs and wonders and mighty works says that he was doing that. Yes, he was doing that but he's saying the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience. It was the the the process of getting to know someone and allowing them to get to know you, of loving them, and allowing them to see something different in your life and speaking to them the gospel truth and saying, this is what I rest on. Yeah, I'm flawed.
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I've got this thorn in the flesh. I can't seem to shake but God's grace is sufficient. He gets me through. Anyway, presenting the gospel as if you're a beggar who's found bread and you're telling them where to find bread, right? Whatever your malady, whatever your addiction, whatever your illness, whatever it is that you have.
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God's grace is sufficient. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience. That utmost patience part hit me harder this week. I think I've skipped over it before because I I was thinking, well, the signs and wonders and miracles are what that's about but the other guys were doing those. The other guys were faking those anyway.
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Make sense? He's saying, a true apostle just keeps on loving. Judge me by what I say. Judge me by what I do. It's not about the miraculous stuff.
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It's a miracle that God loves us as much as he does but it's not about the crazy stuff. It's about the day to day continuous application over time. For in what you, for in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches? Except that I myself did not burden you. Forgive me this wrong.
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That should have been backwards leaning italics. Excuse me. From what were you less favored than the rest of the churches except I myself did not burden you. I never charged you for the preaching. I never charged you for anything that I did.
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Please forgive me for this wrong. He's calling it. That's sarcasm by the way. Now, meditate on this and and I we're closing in on the end of this sermon. I've got a long quote from Charles Spurgeon that I want for you to hear but meditate on this for just a minute.
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Jesus Christ is saying this directly to you. Now, Paul, fourteen years before, Christ had said this directly to him and he had been praying for a removal of something and Christ keeps repeating this. Hey, Bob Dole. No, I'm sorry. Hey, state your name here.
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Seriously, y'all. Hey, state your name here. My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in your weakness. Y'all know AA has a saying that when you you have to come to a place of powerlessness, you have to realize that this thorn in the flesh is more than you can stand, right?
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You have to get past the point of thinking you can control it yourself. You've gotta get to that point where the higher power God, no doubt about it. That God is saying, my grace is sufficient you for you for everything in the past. My grace is going to be sufficient in the future but my grace is also sufficient for the right now and that's where this quote from Spurgeon, I think, hits. Actually, I'm going to start just a little bit before that.
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The nearness of an object increases its apparent bulk, Right? The closer you are to something, the bigger it appears. The nearness of an object increases its apparent bulk, and so the affliction under which we are at present laboring, whatever it is, at which we are presently laboring seems greater than any that we have ever known before. Do you agree with that? Whatever you're going through right now seems like the biggest problem you've ever had.
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Maybe not. Some of us look back and say, I had a lot bigger problem. I had a lot bigger problem at one time than I have right now, but it's still the things that are right up on you look bigger. The nearness of an object increases its apparent bulk, so the affliction under which we are presently laboring seems greater than any we have known before. Past trials appear, when we have passed them, to have been just small things compared with present troubles.
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And therefore, the difficulty is to see the sufficiency of grace, God's grace, my grace is sufficient for you. That's an ongoing thing. My grace is sufficient for you. To see the sufficiency of grace for present and pressing afflictions. It's easy to believe in grace for the past and it's easy to believe in grace for the future.
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Do you agree with that? Yeah. I remember how I used to be and yet it was God's grace that got me through that and I'm looking forward to my incorruptible hope and heaven above. We can we can we can fathom both of those things but the present is harder. It's easy to believe in grace for the past and the future but to rest in it in the immediate is the immediate necessity is true faith.
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Believer, this is for believers. It is now that grace is sufficient. Even at this moment, it is enough for you. Do not say that this is a new trouble or if you do say it, remember, the grace of God is always new. His mercies are new every morning.
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Do not complain that some strange thing has happened to you or if you do, remember that the blessings are provided in the grace of God to meet your strange difficulties. Actually, the strange thing that happened to him in the thorn in his flesh was also the place where he calls back to be in the place where he knew that God knew, right? The good and the bad came together for Paul Spurgeon points that out. Remember blessings are provided in the grace of God to meet your strange difficulties Tre not because the thorn in the flesh is so mysterious for grace is mysterious too, and so mystery shall be met by mystery. At this moment and at all moments which shall ever occur between now and glory, the grace of God will be sufficient for you.
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This sufficiency is declared without any limiting words. Don't you love that? If you do this, then we'll do that. None of that. My grace is sufficient for you.
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Whatever you're going through, whether it's physical, spiritual, mental, grace is sufficient for you. No limiting work. And therefore, I understand this passage to mean that the grace of our Lord Jesus is sufficient to uphold you, sufficient to strengthen you, sufficient to comfort you, sufficient to make your trouble useful to you, sufficient to enable you to triumph over it, sufficient to bring you out of it, sufficient to bring you out of 10,000 like it, sufficient to bring you home to heaven. Whatever would be good for you and that's the kicker right there because God didn't take away Paul's thorn in the flesh. He lived with it.
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He lived with it as far as we know until his martyrdom. He lived with it. Whatever would be good for you, my grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made known in your weakness. Christ's grace is sufficient to bestow.
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Whatever would harm you, his grace is sufficient to avert. Whatever you desire, his grace is sufficient to give you if it is good for you. Whatever you would avoid, his grace can shield you from it. If so, his wisdom shall dictate. Oh child of God.
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Again, this is for believers. I wish it were possible to put into words this all sufficiency but it is not. Let me retract my speech. I'm glad that it cannot be put into words. For if so, it would be finite but since we never can't express it, glory be to God.
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It is inexhaustible and our demands upon it can never be too great. Here, let me press upon you the pleasing duty of taking home the promise personally, personally at this moment. For no believer here need be under any fear since for him. Also, at this very instant, the grace of the Lord Jesus is sufficient. Amen.
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He calls back to Christ. He doesn't call on Paul. Anytime he points towards Paul, he says, this is foolish. I admit it. I'm I'm telling you, it's crazy to even talk like this but you drew me into it but he's always pointing to Christ.
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Do y'all see that? Amen. Good. That's all that's the whole point of the message right there. God's grace is sufficient for you just like it was for Paul and sufficient for us.
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Would you get up here and help me? We're going to we're going to sing one more song. Would you stand up and sing with us? And we're going to sing how deep the father's love for us. He knows what he's doing.
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He knows what he needs to take away and he has the power to take it away. Pay attention to the third verse of
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this song.
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And that's that's really why I wanted to end this song. I will not boast in anything. No gifts, no power, no wisdom, but I'll boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection. Can we just say out loud that we don't have it all together? Amen.
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Can we say out loud that we that we mess things up and that we fall down, but we got a gracious God who picks us up and carries us along. And I am so thankful for that. And I am so thankful for you as a church that we are in this together. So can I encourage you to encourage one another in this as well? That as you are going through difficult times and moments, this season is not the brightest season for everyone, and it can be very, very difficult.
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Share some of your share some of your experiences where where God has lifted you out. May not have removed that thorn in the flesh but has carried you through, because there might be somebody who really needs to hear it. Will not I
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will not boast in anything.
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Amen. If you would close your eyes for just a second and imagine that Jesus is saying this to you, my grace is sufficient for you. My grace is sufficient for you. My mercies are new every morning. Take them.
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That's what they're there for. My grace is sufficient for you. My power is known in your weakness. Depend on me. My grace is sufficient for you.
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Amen.
