Ron Dunn Podcast - Ministry Of Weakness

Episode Date: October 27, 2021

Ron Dunn continues his sermon series "Strange Ministers"

Now would you open your Bibles to the second letter of the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, and I'm going to read verses 1 through 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 1 through 10. Now the opening verses of this chapter may seem a little strange paul is speaking of himself but he's speaking of himself in the third person and paul is giving his personal testimony of the time when he was caught up into the third heaven. And he says it happened 14 years ago. And as you count back and study the book of Acts, it is probably so that this took place

on his first missionary journey. And perhaps when he was stoned at Lystra and left for dead and everybody thought he was dead, maybe that's when the Lord caught him up in the third heaven and gave him a glimpse of that, but we don't know. But in these opening verses, I mention this so that we'll understand while we read what we are reading. The first few verses, Paul is speaking about his own personal experience of God catching him up and showing the vision of what it meant to be in heaven with the Lord. Now beginning in verse 1 of 2 Corinthians chapter 12. It is not expedient for

me, doubtless to glory, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, such in one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter of such and one will I glory yet of myself I will not glory but in mine infirmities for though I would desire to glory I shall not be a fool for 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.

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. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 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. 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. You have a third heaven and a thorn in the same chapter. And my, how real that is to the Christian experience. Do we ever get to the place where we think that heavenly experiences exempt us from all difficulties? It is true in the life of many of you here this morning that in the very same chapter of your life, you have experienced a high spiritual

exaltation and a low satanic depression. Did you know that heavenly experiences are dangerous and those that are blessed of God and those among whom and in whose midst God moves, that there comes to those kind of people a very special kind of danger. You'll notice in verse 7, Paul mentions twice this statement, and lest I should be exalted above measure, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, lest I should be exalted above measure. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, lest I should be exalted above measure. Paul was frustrated, like some of you have been, at the turn of events. In one minute, he's caught up into paradise. Now, not a living soul has ever made that trip and come back except Jesus Christ.

Paul said, I saw things. Well, it's not lawful for me to write about them. I saw things that you wouldn't believe if I told you. I was caught up in the paradise. And God, I don't know whether I was in the body or in the spirit. It doesn't make any difference. I was there. And I saw the glories of that place.

And God gave me an abundance of revelations. But he said after that a very frustrating thing happened to me. Suddenly I was thrown into the valley of depression. I was thrown into the depths of despair. And I prayed three times for God to deliver me from this, and he never did it. I think that's a startling and frustrating response to a man's prayer. And I know that there are many of you here this morning that can identify with the Apostle Paul. And you've been a little frustrated at some of the things that have happened to you

because in one minute, God has so marvelously blessed you. In one minute, God has lifted you up almost to the third heaven. You made it to the second. And if you stood on tiptoes, you could have almost seen over into the third heaven. God has, you never dreamed life could be so filled with joy.

You never, you never dreamed there could be so much ecstasy and just living everyday life. God has lifted you up to heavenly places. And you've walked in that realm of glory. And you've walked praising the Lord and rejoicing your heart just as light as air, and then all of a sudden you fall flat on your face. Mountains of obstacles stand in your way. Depression comes upon you. Difficulty comes. Sickness settles upon you. Infirmities, distresses, persecutions. And you can't figure out what in the world is going on. What's happened? And you pray, Lord, remove this thing. What's going on? Lord, remove this thing. And yet God doesn't answer in the way you want him to answer.

You see, it's not inconsistent as far as God is concerned for you to be lifted up to the third heaven in one moment and to have a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan at the next moment. And really the greatest revelation that Paul ever had in his life was not the revelation that he received when he was caught up to the third heaven. It was the revelation he received when he had the thorn in his flesh. And I want you to know this morning the greatest revelation from God you will ever receive and the most profitable revelation you will ever receive from God is not one that you would receive by being caught up into paradise today

and having your eyes exposed to all the glories of that place, but the most profitable and the greatest revelation you can receive is the revelation you can receive this morning from understanding the ministry of the thorn. Why in the world does God do it like that? And you know, as I was studying this passage, I began to remember other incidents in the Bible, and I found that this is God's method of working. And if you'll go back and trace the great prophets and the great heroes of the Old Testament, and even in the New Testament, you'll find the same thing is true. Even Jesus, after his baptism, when the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended upon him as a dove, and the voice from heaven cried out,

this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Immediately after that, Jesus was plunged into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, to fast and to pray for 40 days. After Moses' greatest spiritual experiences came, his most severe times of testing. It was after Elijah conquered the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and witnessed the fire of God falling that we find him whimpering under a juniper tree praying that he would die. So I want you to know this morning if some of you have come from mountaintop experiences into the valleys of depression, I want you to know you're in good company. And don't be surprised. Well, why does God do it this way? Why, after God gave Paul that marvelous vision and that

abundant revelation, did he allow Satan to buffet him with a thorn in the flesh? Here's the reason he did it. God did it to keep Paul usable. God did it to keep Paul usable. And God does it in your life to keep you usable. I said a moment ago, heavenly experiences are dangerous. You know why? Because they have a tendency to make us spiritually proud and presumptuous. And Paul recognized that he was in danger of becoming spiritually proud and presumptuous because he says twice in that

seventh verse, lest I should be exalted above measure. Lest I should be puffed up and think that God had favored me above other people. Now I had it made and I could just coast the rest of my life on this marvelous experience. Because you see, there is nothing that will so soon disqualify you for God using you and glorifying himself in you than your spiritual pride and presumption. God can only glorify himself through us and God can only use us when we're kept in the position of humility and abasement and weakness. Now, I want us to do four things as we look at this passage of scripture this morning. First of all, let's establish this principle. What is the principle that is enunciated

in this passage? What revelation came to Paul? Notice in verse 9, and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee. Now, here's the principle. For my strength, God's strength, is made perfect, brought to completion in your weakness. There it is. God says, Paul, the reason I'm doing this, he says to you this morning, Christian, the reason I allow these difficulties to come into your life is because your weakness, your weakness is the stage on which I display my power and my strength. You see, the condition for God displaying his power in our lives is not our strength and our ability, It is our weakness and our inability. Let's read in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You listen as I read this passage, beginning in verse 26. Paul says, for you see your calling,

brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen. Now notice three times in these verses he says, God has deliberately chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things that are fine, that no flesh should glory in his presence. Three times Paul says God doesn't simply use what he can.

God isn't getting along the best way he can with what he can get. God has deliberately passed by the great, the noble, the strong, the wise. God has deliberately chosen the foolish and the weak and the base things of the world. Friend, God doesn't use you in spite of your weakness. He uses you because of your weakness. You say, well, I've got so much ability. Well, God can use this if you'll give it up like Paul did in Philippians chapter 3. But what things were gained to me, those I counted as garbage. I have a little pet peeve. And the pet peeve is to hear somebody talk to a lost man like this. Oh, you have so much ability.

There is so much you could do for the Lord. If you would just give your heart to Jesus, there is just so much you could do for God. That is the world's greatest mistake. We talk about some Christians who are carnal and living lives of defeat. We say, oh, if they would just get right with God, man, what they couldn't do for the Lord. They've got so much ability. They have so much talent. Listen, God deliberately chooses the things that are base and weak. God does not use you in spite of your weakness. I wish we could understand this. We think that God is just getting along the best way he can

and God just has to make do with what he has. Listen, Paul says God deliberately chooses these things so that he can be glorified and exalted. And the only way God can use you is when he can be glorified in you. Now, God's not going to use this church if he cannot be glorified and exalted. And the only way God can use you is when he can be glorified in you. Now, God's not going to use this church if he cannot be glorified in the using of it. And the only way that God can be glorified in the using of our lives and our bodies is if we recognize our utter weakness and inability. And so God is constantly reminding us that we're just dust, and he lets these thorns in the flesh come to us in order to remind us of our weakness, to make us weak, to show us our weakness and inability. You remember over in 2 Chronicles chapter 20,

King Uzziah was a man that God had greatly blessed. And I want you to listen to just a couple of verses. We're establishing the principle that God's strength is made perfect when we're weak. Listen to 2 Chronicles chapter 26, talking about King Uzziah. And he made in Jerusalem engines invented by cunning men to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks to shoot arrows and great stones with all. And his name spread far abroad. Now, there is a modern success story. King Uzziah has gained power and he's gained prosperity. And he says, here's what we're going to do. When we have to fight battles now, we've got it made. And I had cunning men to invent engines, machines,

and we're going to set these on the towers. And my name is spreading abroad all over the land. I'm becoming famous. Now notice what he says. For he was marvelously helped till he was strong. King Uzziah was marvelously helped by God. How long? As long as he was weak. But when he became strong, there was no more help. But when he was strong, listen, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.

You know what happens in the lives of a great many Christians who enter into the spirit-filled life and God begins to bless? Your heart is lifted up to your own destruction. And the principle by which God operates in our lives is to remind us that we're dust and he's constantly weakening us and drawing out of us our own strength so that he can be glorified in our lives. When D.L. Moody first went to Britain years ago, one of the British reporters went to interview and watch D.L. Moody as he preached and conducted his services because he was trying to find out the secret of this man's success. Here's what he wrote in his newspaper. He said, Mr. Moody uses bad English, has a high-pitched voice, speaks with a nasal tone, is overweight, and generally rough.

He said, I can see nothing in Mr. Moody to account for the success of his work. And when Moody read that, he said, that's the secret. There is no way to explain this word except the power of God. Now, some of you have been praying, Lord, use me. All right. The first thing God has to do if he's going to use you is to weaken you and to abase you and to humble you. That's the principle. All right. Now let's examine the process.

How does God do this? Paul says, lest I should be exalted above measure. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a thorn in the flesh. This is the process. God says, I can only use you. I can only be glorified in your life when you're weak. Now here's how I'm going to make you weak. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh. That word thorn means a wooden stake that impales someone to a cross or to a tree. The verb form of that word means to crucify. And here's the picture that Paul is painting. He says, there was given to me a stake that nailed me to the wall and nailed me to the floor. Now that's about as helpless as you can get. Paul says, I besought the Lord thrice to remove it. Now, if anybody has the prayers answered, it ought to be the apostle Paul.

Man, I'd like to have him praying for me. Well, I want you to know this is a startling response. God didn't answer. God didn't remove that thorn in the flesh. Paul prayed three times. I bet that's the first time he ever had to pray thrice or anything in his life. And he was frustrated, just like some of you have been. Some of you said, oh, Lord, I could serve you better if you'd change circumstances. Lord, if you would put me in a different position, if you would give me a different

situation. Friend, what is the thorn in the flesh for you this morning? You know, I think it's significant that Paul does not identify his thorn in the flesh. Some people say, we know that Paul was married because it says he had a thorn in the flesh. Well, now that's just speculation Paul doesn't identify the thorn in the flesh why? because what it was is not important what it was is not important it may have been some physical disease infirmity

it could have been anything we know that it wasn't spiritual or moral defeat because God would have removed that. But it was something that Paul looked upon as a handicap. It was given a thorn in the flesh. It was some kind of physical handicap or obstacle. And he said, Lord, I could serve you so much better if you just remove this and change this. Isn't that the way you pray?

Well, I praise Lord, I could be such a better Christian if you'd just remove this and change this. Isn't that the way you pray? Well, I praise Lord, I could be such a better Christian if you'll just change my husband. Sometimes teenagers pray, Lord, I could glorify you more, I could serve you better if you'd change my parents. Lord, if you would move me to another position, or you'd move me to another town, or you'd give me this, or you'd move me to another town, or you'd give me this, or you'd change this circumstance in my life,

Lord, then I could serve you. Is that the way you've been praying? I want you to notice something. Here is Paul's great revelation. He says, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. Well, do you mean to tell me that a thing can be of the devil and of God at the same time? That's right. It was a messenger of Satan and yet a gift of grace at the same time. Now, I think that's good. You know, God uses the devil, and that must frustrate him something awful.

The devil comes along and he says, Paul, I have something that's just going to wipe you out. You've been causing me no little trouble. You know, Paul was known in hell. Those people over in Acts had tried to cast out the demons. The demons answered and said, Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you? Well, Paul was famous in hell. They knew about Paul in hell and he was a constant thorn in the devil's flesh. And so Satan said, Paul, I'm going to wipe you out. I'm going to destroy your effectiveness. I'm going to destroy your ministry. You've just had this tremendous spiritual experience and you think you're on top of it all. I'm going to show you what I can do. And he inflicted him with a thorn in the flesh. God says, thank you, Satan.

Just what I wanted you to do. You played right into my hands because I know Paul real well. And Paul was beginning to get a little bit holier-than-thou attitude. He was beginning to coast just a little bit. He was beginning to get lifted up just a little bit through all of these great experiences that he's had. And I want to thank you. You played right into my hands. Listen, if God couldn't use the devil, he'd kill him. The only reason God allows the devil to do what he does is because God is using him.

Now listen, what's your thorn in the flesh this morning? Is there some difficulty? I'm not talking now about moral or spiritual difficulty. Those things God always removes. It may be physical illness. It may be a job situation that you wish could be changed. It may be a thousand things. It's your thorn in the flesh.

God allows Satan to bump at you. Why? So he can keep you usable. He can keep you usable. All right, let's move on. Let's explore now the possibilities of this principle. Principle is God's power is made perfect when I'm weak. The process is God makes me weak by giving me thorns in the flesh, difficulties. Now let's look at the possibilities of this. In verse 9, he says, most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities in order that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

There are two glorious possibilities once you realize the principle by which God works. First of all is, I can have victory in the midst of my difficulties and sufferings. Paul says, most gladly, therefore, will I glory. That word glory means to give a shout of triumph. Sometimes people want to know if shouting in church is scriptural. It is. The word glory means to shout. Paul says, I will give a shout of victory in my distresses. Why? Because it changed his viewpoint to distresses. The revelation of God changed the way he looked at the things that came into his life. Now listen, I want you to remember this. If there's a thorn in your flesh, if there's a situation that seems to be unbearable,

if there's a circumstance in your life that presents difficulty and distress, and you pray, and God won't remove that, then the next thing you're to do is to praise him for it, because God is going to use that to glorify himself in your life. Now, the first thing, Paul prayed. I think he did right. He prayed. He wanted it to be removed, but after it was not removed,

he realized then through the revelation of God that God says, I want this to stay here because this is a minister that I have given to you. And I'm going to use this. Now you need to change your viewpoint to difficulties and distresses and obstacles in your Christian life. If God will not remove them, then you know that God is using them for his glory.

Now, I'll repeat, we're not talking about spiritual and moral failure. You can never use sin as an excuse this way. It's things that are not morally and spiritually wrong. But you begin to praise God for it. And when a Christian realizes the principle by which God operates in his life, he can look upon any distress and any persecution, any difficulty, any tragedy, and say, I will give a shout of victory in this because I know God is

using this. And he wants to use it if I'll allow him to glorify himself in my life. The second great possibility is not only victory over distresses and difficulties, but the power of Christ is made available to us. He says, most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities in order that the power of Christ may rest upon me. That word rest means a tent spread over us. It's the only time it's found in the New Testament. Paul says, The power of Christ is like a tent spread over me, and I live under the shelter of the power of Christ.

And every day of my life, and every moment of my life, I am sheltered by the power of Christ and the power of the risen Lord abides on me and is made available to me but I want you to notice the power of Christ dwells on him

and abides on him only when he glories in his distresses did you notice that? the chain reaction there some of you said well preacher now I've had difficulties. I've had distresses. I've had infirmities.

But I haven't seen the power of Christ in my life. I haven't witnessed the power of Jesus glorifying in my life. No, because you've not gloried in those infirmities. You've complained and griped and grown bitter. You know what will turn the trick? When you get Paul's viewpoint, the heavenly viewpoint, you agree with God and say,

Lord, I know that you've sent this now as your gift of grace and I praise you for it. And I glory in it because I know it means you're working in my life. Now the last thing. Let's enter in into the provision. What is that provision? Paul says, Lord, take this thorn from my flesh. God gave him a better

answer. The provision, and there again we meet the wizard of is. He doesn't say my grace will be sufficient. He doesn't say my grace someday can be sufficient. He says my grace grace is, I ask right now, present tense, my grace is sufficient. I think that has to be the world's greatest understatement. My grace is sufficient for thee. Then you could have said a lot of things. My grace just completely overwhelms every problem. He says, my grace is sufficient. You heard the story of the man who bought the Rolls Royce, and it's their policy not to publish the horsepower of their engines. And this man paid all that money for the Rolls Royce, and he felt like he had a right to know how many horsepower he had

under that hood. He kept asking them, and they kept sending him back letters saying, it is our policy not to disclose the amount of horsepower that we put in our engines. Well, he just got so angry about it and kept on, kept on, went to the head office and sent telegrams. He demanded to know, and the people said, we've just got to give this fellow some kind of answer. He's never going to let us alone. So the next time he wrote demanding how much horsepower was in a Rolls Royce,

he got back a telegram with one word on it. Adequate. Adequate. That's what God says. Paul says, Lord, you just don't know the problems I'm going through. Lord, look at my situation. Lord, look at this difficulty. Look at this infirmity. Lord, do something. God says, my grace is adequate. My grace is sufficient for thee. And so Paul says, thank you, Lord.

I know it is. Take it by faith. Praise the Lord for infirmities. Praise the Lord for difficulties. Praise the Lord for thorns from the devil. My grace, his grace, is sufficient for me. And it's sufficient for you

no matter what the situation is. That's how God's been working in your life. This past week, these past months, some of you have been a little perplexed about the turn of events in your life. You've given Jesus everything you know to give him and you've totally without reservation yielded your all to him. He's everything you know to give him. And you've totally, without reservation, yielded your all to him. He's lifted you up to high spiritual experiences. And then the roof has fallen in on you. You've not been able to understand it.

Lest you be lifted up above measure, there was given to you a thorn in the flesh so that you might walk, not in the power of your own strength or experiences, but knowing that His grace is sufficient for you. sold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. If you would like to listen to additional Ron Dunn messages, visit sherwoodbaptist.net slash bookstore and search Ron Dunn. For more Ron Dunn materials, including sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from a study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.