God is Sufficient

God is • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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The hardest truth

This week, as we continue our study of “God is” we are talking about what is perhaps one of the easiest to affirm, yet most difficult to apply qualities of God. Today, we will see that God is sufficient.

Turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

2 Corinthians 12:7–9 ESV

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

“My grace is sufficient for you”...

Such a simple, straightforward declaration, and as true for us today as it was for Paul 2,000 years ago. However, not so easy to put into action.

It’s hard, when everything around you feels like it’s falling apart, to affirm that God’s grace is sufficient.

In fact I’m willing to bet that for most of us in here, we’ve struggled at times to affirm that God’s grace is sufficient:

If you’ve ever suddenly lost a job, without enough savings to bridge the gap and mouths that still need fed.

If you’ve been stuck in the grip of a mental health issue where your own thoughts are your worst enemies, where no matter what you know to be true, the lies of the enemy are stuck on repeat in your head, where there’s no place to retreat to because the danger is within you.

If you’ve ever said goodbye to someone that you’d never even considered having to live without.

If you’ve heard a doctor say, “it’s cancer,” or “the cancer’s back”, and felt that indescribable whirlwind of uncertainty and fear.

If you’ve had a loved one, or a friend, caught in the clutches of addiction, and had to make the impossible choice between enabling their addiction and watching them go without a warm bed and food to eat.

I mention these things to underscore the fact that what seems obvious and concrete to me as I stand up here looking out at a room full of people I consider family, knowing that in about an hour and a half I’ll be enjoying Sunday lunch, honestly having an awfully good day...

What seems obvious and concrete on a day like today can feel inconceivable on others.

So today we’re going to, hopefully, go beyond the platitude to explore the TRUTH that God is Sufficient.

Sufficient for a Thorn

In our reading, Paul writes about this thorn in his flesh, “a messenger of Satan”, he calls it, to keep him from becoming conceited. You see Paul has just made his case once again to the Corinthian church who have been influenced by this group of really impressive looking preachers that he mockingly calls “super apostles”.

And these super apostles had credentials miles long, they brought authoritarian leadership and charged the Corinthians exorbitantly for their services, and so Paul compares their credentials and he says “are they Hebrews? Jews descended of Abraham, well so am I!”

“Are they followers of Christ? Well I am a better one!” And here is where Paul’s argument gets interesting, because when he explains how, or why he is a “better disciple” than these false teachers, he references two main factors:

He has encountered the risen Jesus and heard from Him the Gospel message that he was called to share.

He has suffered, an unfathomable amount, in his ministry.

Shortly before today’s reading, in 2 Corinthians 11:23, Paul describes how he has endured “far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death”.

He goes on to recount “five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea”.

What a strange thing to boast about. Right alongside the fact that he received personal revelations from Jesus Christ to prepare him for ministry… Paul proudly states some of the lowest, most painful parts of his life.

But as we are about to see, it is these moments in which the power of Christ works the strongest.

And Paul continues to say that with all these credentials, both the revelations from Christ and the weakness that he faces, he has this thorn in his flesh… this messenger of Satan… that keeps him from getting conceited, from misrepresenting the source of the Gospel’s power.

So what is this thorn?

Christians and scholars have considered what this thorn could be for quite some time. Some propose it is a physical ailment, probably something related to his eyes, potentially an injury sustained in one of the many physical attacks he listed in 2 Corinthians.

(Supported by Galatians 4:12-15)

Others might say that Paul’s thorn, the “messenger of Satan to harass him” could be the very false teachers that he calls out elsewhere in 2 Corinthians 12. This makes sense, to an extent, after all, the false teachings and haughty opposition these teachers spread amongst the church in Corinth takes up a not insignificant section of this letter. They were certainly messengers of a false gospel, which would’ve felt like harassment to Paul.

Still others would propose that the thorn is some kind of temptation, a sinful habit that Paul just can’t shake, referencing Paul’s references to “the flesh” in his letter to the church in Rome.

However, to me, the most likely thorn that plagues Paul’s flesh… is Paul.

We’re talking about a man who was so vehemently devoted to the Pharisaic interpretation of the Old Testament that he watched and approved as an angry crowd stoned Stephen to death.

Paul is a man who petitioned the high priest to give him authorization to go to Damascus, detain “any belonging to the Way”, also known as Christians, and bring them back to Jerusalem. For what purpose, we might ask? Why did Saul want to bring Christians back to Jerusalem?

We don’t need to look any further than the first part of Acts 9:1.

Acts 9:1 ESV

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

Paul had made it his life’s mission to round up and murder any Christians he could get his hands on.

In Stephen’s case, he succeeded.

And since then, he had returned to Jerusalem several times!

To teach, the speak with the Jerusalem council, to deliver a collection to the church in Jerusalem.

Every time Paul traveled back to Jerusalem, who do you think he encountered? Stephen’s friends? His wife? His family?

Everyone that Paul encounters, in every church he visits, is someone that he planned, prepared, and set out to murder. To me, that sounds like the kind of shame that pierces the flesh, like a thorn.

So what does Paul do with this thorn?

How does he handle it?

Paul wrote that he pleaded with the Lord three times to remove this thorn, to relieve him from this pain.

And the Lord answered him, simply “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

My grace is sufficient.

My power… is made perfect… in weakness.

Perfect in Weakness

Now in case I haven’t made it clear that’s kinda the focal verse of our sermon today so let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about what the Lord did and did not say to Paul.

He did not answer “my grace is sufficient for you, believe hard enough and you will be healed.”

God does not say “my grace is sufficient for you so no matter what affliction you are facing just remember the grace I have shown you and BOOM! you’ll be singing blue skies and rainbows again.”

God does not say “my grace is sufficient for you because I GAVE you that thorn in your flesh, I DIRECTED that suffering into your life to TEACH YOU SOME VALUABLE LESSON.”

God’s grace is sufficient, because His power is made perfect in weakness.

And this is where we start to push past the platitude, because Paul doesn’t need to get better to see God’s power. He doesn’t “get over it”, he doesn’t “let go and let God”, he doesn’t “look on the bright side of life”, he’s in pain!

And he pleads to God 3 times “God can you PLEASE remove this pain from my life” and God says “not now” and again “Lord PLEASE make this pain stop” and God says “not now” and Paul pleads a third time “God you promised to care for your people and I am in PAIN would you PLEASE take this away from me” and the Lord says...

“You still don’t get it! I don’t just use my power to take away weakness and give strength, to take away hurt and give comfort. It’s by taking weak and hurting people and using them as conduits of strength and comfort that my power is shown most perfectly”.

It doesn’t take much power to take a weak person and make them strong.

School athletic coaches, drill instructors, personal trainers, and orthopedic surgeons do it every day. They target our weaknesses and work with them until they become strong.

I had the opportunity just yesterday to watch Krista play in a tennis tournament at Marysville High School. And it was her last match of the day and it was hotter yesterday than it’s been in weeks and Krista was getting tired and overheated and hungry.

After a particularly rough game Julie and Emily and I watch her coach walk on to the court and we hope he has the right words to encourage Krista and her partner but he doesn’t really say much, he hands them each a plate with a slice of pizza, and he walks back off the court.

They won that next game, and went on to win the match, winding up third overall, and I was very proud of them.

Sometimes, all it takes to take someone who’s feeling weak and make them strong is a slice of pizza.

But Jesus told Paul not that His power MAKES PERFECT the weak, but His power is made perfect IN WEAKNESS.

I pray that for many of you this is a distinction without a difference. I pray that you haven’t experienced this kind of weakness that feels so overwhelming it becomes an inescapable part of your existence.

Maybe it seems little silly to think that simply knowing God’s grace is sufficient isn’t enough to reorder our priorities and make us feel better. Thank God for that!

If that’s you, I’m not preaching to you right now. Of course, I pray God would speak to you through His word today, that this sermon would do good for you, but I’m honestly not talking to you.

Right now, I’m talking to those who are gathered here, and I suspect it’s more than many of us would think, who feel a thorn in their flesh, who feel weak and who feel like God hasn’t taken their weakness away. This morning I’m trying to preach directly to you.

Whether your thorn is grief or guilt or physical pain, 2 Corinthians 12:9 has a critical message that you should hear today.

The way you’re feeling does not cut you off from God.

His power is made perfect in weakness.

Jesus can relate to you and work through you and be glorified in your life right now and you do not have to feel “fixed” for that to happen.

Paul bore his injuries from his many beatings for the rest of his life.

He never stopped facing false teachers, the church still faces them today all of these generations later.

Paul never writes that he has finally conquered sin, putting away the desires of the flesh gladly and clinging only to Jesus.

I’d imagine Paul could still see Stephen’s face, the face of his widow, until he drew his last breathe.

Paul had many weaknesses, whichever you think he was referring to as his “thorn” was undoubtably still with him for the remainder of his life, yet God brought him all the way to Rome to proclaim the Gospel of a savior of the weak, who does not need to make us strong to work powerfully through us.

All Things

But of course I’m not saying you must live a tragic life to be a good Christian. To expand a little further on how God is sufficient, we will look at perhaps the most commonly misquoted verse in the whole Bible. Turn with me to Philippians 4.

Philippians 4:10–13 ESV

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

I think we’ve all heard 4:13 here quoted as basically a Christian equivalent of “you can do it!”

Big math test tomorrow? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Nervous to ask out the girl? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Really want to land a new job? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Caring for a newborn and baffled about when you’re supposed to sleep because there’s just so much to do and they never sleep and the crying is just SO loud?? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

But that clearly doesn’t to justice to the depths of what Paul is describing here.

He says that he has “learned in whatever situation I am to be content”.

“I know how to be brought low”

and,

“I know how to abound”

You see the way that Christ strengthens us is not necessarily in a way that we are successful at everything we do and make lots of money and always know the right thing to say and get the right house and drive the right car.

It’s that no matter our situation, whether we have much or little, whether we have comfort or a thorn, there is a common thread in our life that allows us to do well exactly where we are.

A Common Thread

That thread is the overwhelming love of Christ, and the grace He offers us.

Sometimes that love and grace shows itself in the knowledge that we are forgiven and cherished by God, and that’s enough.

Sometimes, what we know to be true just doesn’t feel like enough, and so God gave us the church.

Because sometimes that love and grace is the embrace of a Christian brother or sister who has offered to share in life’s burdens with you.

Sometimes, when we are blessed with abundance, it is the ability to bless others, alleviate their burdens, provide for their needs as Christ would have us do.

Sometimes it’s Andrew leading us in just the right song that fills our hearts with joy as the church that is gathered here sings together.

And I’m sure there are countless other ways that we are provided for in every situation, I’m sure it’s different for you than it is for me.

But the common thread, the ability to do all things through Christ, means that whatever our situation, no matter how good or how bad things are today, we remain adopted children of God who get to honor and bring glory to our Father.

Mid Recap

So, what have we established so far about how God is sufficient?

First, God is sufficient even when the thorn remains. When we are weak, it does not mean we are separated from God, it means God’s power can be most evident in our lives.

Second, God is sufficient regardless of our immediate situation. Whether rich or poor, well or sick, on the best day ever and on our worst day, God promises to be sufficient.

The way He provides for us varies greatly based on our specific situation, but it always shares the common thread of Jesus’ overwhelming love.

Now and Not Yet

When it comes to promises like this in the Bible, they often come in two parts, and I like to describe these parts as the “now” and the “not yet”. We see this principle plenty of times in the promises of the prophets.

Look at 2 Samuel 7, starting in verse 12, where the prophet Nathan describes the promises of God to King David.

2 Samuel 7:12–16 ESV

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”

There are 2 key ways that this promise is fulfilled. The first is in David’s son, Solomon. He did grow up to become king, and he built the house of the Name of the Lord, the temple in Jerusalem.

He did, in fact, commit iniquity, and he was disciplined strongly. But, as promised, he did not lose his kingdom during his lifetime.

However, David’s throne was not yet established forever, not through Solomon.

In fact, Solomon messed things up so badly that upon his death Israel fractured into two competing kingdoms, and no other descendants of David would rule over a united Israel to this very day.

However, this last part was promised to David as a “not yet”. During that immediate dynasty, David’s offspring would not rule forever, but through his line a boy was born generations later, and lain in a manger in Bethlehem, the town of David. That boy was God as well as man, and he reigns TODAY on a throne established forever.

In the same way, God is sufficient in our “Now” and our “Not Yet” in different ways.

For now, God offers us patience, support, the ability to go through the whole spectrum of human emotion and human prosperity and to do so for His glory.

In our “not yet” God offers us something much… much greater. Turn with me to Romans 8.

Romans 8:18–19 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

Creation waits with eager longing. We wait for the ultimate revelation of the sons, and, may I say, daughters of God to inherit the fully restored creation when Christ returns.

God is sufficient to get us through today, and God is sufficient to redeem all of His creation when the time comes.

Call

Today is the day to begin relying on God’s sufficiency.

If I went through my days hoping that Chris would be sufficient, well I’m gonna spend a lot of time wishing I had been enough.

If I go through my days hoping that, my relationships with my friends, my family, with Emily will be sufficient, well I’m just asking to be let down.

If I go through my days hoping that if I just have the right stuff, the right shoes, the good house, the right car, well, I learned on Tuesday night that you can have the right car one minute and watch it get loaded on a tow truck the next, and all that it takes is one other driver to be distracted and miss the red light.

There is only one who is sufficient in every situation, who provides in ways we certainly don’t understand at the time.

There is only one who is able to use weak and broken people in powerful ways.

If you’d like to start relying on His sufficiency, on His grace today, by submitting to the Gospel in baptism, we’d love to help with that.

If you are already baptized into Christ but have not felt that God is sufficient, and you need the support of His church, we’d love to help with that.

Whatever your need, we hope you’ll make it known by coming forward, while together we stand, and sing.