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Grace For Our Weakness · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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We can turn back to our reading in 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
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I'll just read again at verse 9 and verse 10.
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2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 9.
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But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
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Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
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For when I am weak, then I am strong.
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As we come to these words and we see the strength and weakness that it speaks of, do you feel strong today?
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And if you do feel strong, then what or who is giving you that strength?
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Where is that strength coming from?
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Or if maybe you feel weak today, maybe you're feeling that weakness as you come in here today.
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And maybe you're asking, well, where can I find strength to help in this weakness?
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That's really what Paul is describing for us here in these verses.
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There's much in these verses, but I want us to think today of grace for our weakness.
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When I was younger, at Christmas time, one of my favorite programs was The World's Strongest Man.
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It's much simpler to find it when there was only three or four channels to choose from,
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but it was one of these programs I would always look forward to watching.
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And seeing these men who were just so well built, moving trucks or just big barrels of weights,
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and just things that you seem to think would be impossible to do,
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they're able to do it in their strength.
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I always loved watching that.
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Nowadays, I think it usually takes place over the summer months, about June,
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and last year was actually a Scotsman, Tom Stoltman, from Inmergordon,
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who won that title of The World's Strongest Man.
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And when you look at them, you immediately think of strength and power.
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They just look as if they're strong, the bulging arms and legs,
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their height, the breadth of their shoulders.
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Everything about them just looks powerful.
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And when you see pictures of them beside ordinary people,
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they look so tiny in comparison.
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Even people who may be over six foot, they still look so small
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beside these giants who are so powerful.
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But are they strong?
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Or do they have weaknesses?
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You can imagine us trying to go up against them in one of these competitions.
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We couldn't even move the things that they're lifting with one hand.
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But are they always strong?
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How strong are they?
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Do they have weaknesses?
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Well, they do.
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They have weaknesses.
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And very often, these weaknesses develop over time
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because of the pressures that they're putting on their bodies.
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The strain takes its toll.
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And very often, later in life, even still in young life,
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they end up crippled.
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And some have even died young because of the strain put on their hearts.
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So they may look strong, but there's a weakness in them.
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And as you're reading through 2 Corinthians,
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this section that we've been reading,
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you have these super apostles,
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and you have Paul the apostle.
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And almost as you're looking at them,
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they would say there's no comparison.
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But what we find is,
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just like these world's strongest men,
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there is weakness behind everybody.
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And we are the same ourselves.
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There are times when we can feel strong,
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but yet there's still a weakness in us.
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And there are times when we can feel weak,
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and yet we know that there is a strength with us
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that is beyond anything that we can manage ourselves.
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And that's what Paul is saying here,
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what the grace of God gives us,
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this strength,
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this grace that is always sufficient,
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for in our weakness,
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his strength is made perfect in us.
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So when you look at the city of Corinth,
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to which Paul was writing,
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and to which he administered,
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you find that this was a place that was strong in many ways.
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The city itself was strong and powerful,
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financially powerful,
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politically powerful,
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full of people from all over the place,
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many who were wealthy and powerful people.
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And so there was a lot of strength,
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as it was perceived in this city.
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And they also had these super apostles,
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as we see in verse 5 of chapter 11.
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That's how they're described.
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These super apostles,
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they're strong in many ways.
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There's this aura about them.
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And this message that they have,
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that they bring,
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is so appealing to others.
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And the people are being influenced by these,
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and they're thinking,
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well, here is the strength that we need to stand in ourselves now.
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We've had what Paul has given us,
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but let's hear what they're saying about Paul.
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How could God give someone the gospel that is true
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if he's suffering so much,
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but that they can find strength in this new message
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that these super apostles have?
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So there's perceived strength in Corinth in so many ways.
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And then you look at Paul,
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who on the other hand is a prisoner,
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writing to the church at Corinth,
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someone who has,
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as he's describing here,
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been given a thorn in the flesh,
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a weakness that's hindering him in many ways,
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something he's asked and pleaded with the Lord three times
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to take away from him,
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and yet the Lord is using it,
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a weakness,
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to remind him that his strength is not in himself,
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but in God.
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He's described as a fool,
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a madman,
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in all these different ways.
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But he uses this,
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this perceived weakness,
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to show them where strength is found.
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He has a strength that is not his own,
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but it's of the Lord.
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So who is weak and who is strong in this passage?
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And how can we learn lessons for ourselves today from this passage
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as we think of how we can see or perceive ourselves as strong
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or recognize our weaknesses and yet find strength?
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God is the one who is able to give this strength.
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My grace is sufficient for you,
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he says,
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for my power is made perfect in weakness.
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So are you strong today?
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And what is that strength?
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Where is it from?
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Or are you weak today?
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And where can you find the strength that helps in that weakness?
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We want to look at it under two headings.
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The first is looking at the strong,
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the strength.
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Those who are strong,
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yet weak without faith.
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And then those who feel weak,
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but are strong with faith.
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So just these two headings.
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Strong,
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but weak without faith.
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Weak,
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yet strong with faith.
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So strong,
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but weak without faith.
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What is the problem in Corinth?
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What is the problem with me?
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What is the problem with you?
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Well,
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when you look at Corinth and look at ourselves,
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we could have a whole list of things that are problems.
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What's wrong with us?
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We could go on and on.
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And there are many problems you could probably hide,
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and Corinth that are very similar to ourselves today.
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But one of the problems that stands out here is that they are easily swayed.
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They're easily pulled in a different direction.
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And this is something that can affect us as well.
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You see,
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they're being influenced by the latest teachings.
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These super apostles,
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as they're described,
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have come in,
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and they're preaching against Paul and the message he had,
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and they're presenting a new gospel for the people to believe in.
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And so they're being influenced in this way.
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Something new,
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something exciting comes along,
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grabs their attention,
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and starts to lead them away from the gospel that Paul had given to them.
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Paul preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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He didn't preach that everything would be straightforward and perfect.
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He preached that there would be challenges and problems along the way,
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as there always is.
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But yet these other apostles come,
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and they're proclaiming that surely someone who is trusting in the Lord
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shouldn't suffer in this way.
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And there's a warning for ourselves there today as well.
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If we are listening to the gospel of Jesus Christ,
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then we should see that it's a gospel
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that doesn't mean that we are not going to go through challenges,
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that we are not going to suffer along the way.
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And we see today that there are those who will come in,
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and they can be described as the super apostles of today,
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who have this message that seems appealing,
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that seems good,
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that seems right,
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that they'll say that,
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well, if you're suffering,
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it's because your faith isn't strong enough.
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It's your fault.
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It's on you.
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You've got to change yourself in some way.
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They'll come in and say these things,
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and they can seem so plausible,
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and the fault can seem to be with us.
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But then we're to see that Jesus himself has said,
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in this world,
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you will have many troubles.
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So Jesus,
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and trusting in Jesus,
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isn't the means of getting away from all the troubles of this world.
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Far from it.
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We will go through troubles like everybody else.
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And we will go through all these different challenges.
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And Paul himself outlines that for us in verse 23 to verse 29 of chapter 11.
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There's a whole list of things there that he goes through,
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of the imprisonments,
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the labors he's gotten,
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the beatings,
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the near-death experience,
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the lashes.
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He goes through this long list of things that he suffered because of his faith.
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And these super apostles are saying,
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well,
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surely if Paul was really trusting in the Lord,
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these things wouldn't happen.
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Therefore,
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listen to us,
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that we have a more superior message to give,
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one that will truly help you to achieve all things.
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But they are boasting in themselves.
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They are boasting as Hebrews.
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They are boasting as Israelites.
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They are boasting as the offspring of Abram.
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They are boasting as the servant of Christ.
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All of it sounds plausible.
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All of it sounds good.
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But the message that they have is wrong.
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And what Paul does is highlight this,
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that they are boasting in the flesh,
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that they are boasting in themselves.
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They may have strength,
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as it would seem outwardly.
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They may have this aura about them that looks so strong
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and what other people should desire.
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They may feel that they are strong,
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but ultimately they have no faith.
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They are not trusting in Jesus Christ.
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They are not trusting in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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And without faith,
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they have nothing.
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The same as ourselves.
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Without faith,
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we have nothing.
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We have no strength of ourselves.
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Jesus teaches that in John 15, verse 5.
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Apart from me,
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you can do nothing.
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When he's preaching about the vine and the branches.
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Apart from me,
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you can do nothing.
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But that's what these super apostles are saying.
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It's the opposite.
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That you can do it.
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So what do you rely on today?
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Where is your strength today?
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Is it in yourself?
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Is it in your faith?
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Or your works?
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Or whatever you are doing?
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Martin Luther once said,
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God our Father has made all things depend on faith.
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So that whoever has faith will have everything.
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And whoever does not have faith will have nothing.
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Faith to know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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That all sufficient grace.
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The writer to the Hebrews in chapter 11, verse 6 says as well,
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Without faith,
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it is impossible to please him.
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For whoever would draw near to God
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must believe that he exists
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and that he rewards those who seek him.
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It's about faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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These super apostles and the people who were believing in him,
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they felt strong,
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they had confidence,
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but it would be their downfall
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if they continued in this way
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because they didn't know the grace of God.
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So are you strong today?
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And what is your strength today?
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We could say in so many ways,
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I'm strong.
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I'm doing fine.
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Things are going well in my life.
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I don't have worries.
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I'm a good person.
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We can list it off.
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We can have all of these things that sound good
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and sound as if we are strong in ourselves.
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But do you have faith?
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Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?
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Do you know his grace that is all sufficient?
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Apart from him, you can do nothing.
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It's one of these fables,
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one of these stories told to give an illustration.
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And it's about a stag that is drinking from a pool of water.
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And as he's drinking from the pool of water,
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he's seeing his reflection in the water.
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And he's looking at himself like a mirror,
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the reflection on the water.
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And he's seeing his antlers so big,
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so powerful,
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and he's so proud of them.
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But then in his image that he sees in the water,
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he sees his little spindly legs.
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And he's so disappointed that they're so small and insignificant.
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And he's thinking,
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what rubbish legs I have.
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But then he's disturbed by the sound of a mountain lion behind him.
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And he has to run.
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And it's these spindly legs that carry him fast away from the mountain lion
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into a forest where then his antlers get caught up in the thickets there.
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And he ends up trapped because of these antlers.
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And the mountain lion catches him and diverges.
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What's the story telling us?
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Well, it's telling us to look in the mirror.
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And what do we see?
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What do you see when you look in the mirror today?
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What do you take pride in?
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What do you boast in of yourself?
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What strengths do you see?
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Or what do you think is strong?
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And what things do you see as a weakness?
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What things do you think will hinder you
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and that you would want to be better?
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So often when we look in the mirror,
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we look at ourselves.
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And think we can do things ourselves.
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That we can be strong of ourselves.
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That faith is like the spindly legs that seem so insignificant, so weak.
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That we're weak to have faith in God when we can manage by ourselves.
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But it's our faith that is able to save.
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Not ourselves.
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And the faith that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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So what do we see when we look in the mirror?
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What gives us strength today?
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What weaknesses do we see?
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And do we have it the right way around?
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Well, Paul goes on to show us weakness, yet strength in faith.
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And that's what we want to see.
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We can feel weak in our faith and in the gospel.
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But when we are with Christ, when we are in Christ,
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that is what our strength is.
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And so Paul describes his own weakness,
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and yet the strength that he gets from God.
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And that's what we need.
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Weak yet strong in faith.
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How does Paul counter the super apostles?
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What arguments does he present?
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Well, he shows that he boasts in the same things.
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And this can sound a little maybe stupid at first to say,
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why is he boasting in the same things?
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Well, he's boasting in the same things, but with a different reason.
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He's boasting to highlight the grace that God gives.
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So he is able to say the same things that the apostles are able to say as well.
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Are they Hebrews, he says in verse 22?
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So am I.
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Are they Israelites?
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So am I.
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Are they the offspring of Abraham?
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So am I.
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Are they servants of Christ?
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I am a Bethel.
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So he's boasting in exactly the same things,
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but he is boasting in them by the grace that God has given him.
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Not to put himself, to promote himself,
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but to promote the praising of God.
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And then he goes on to talk about this experience that he had.
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14 years ago, he speaks about this in verse 2, going down there.
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We're not going to go into the details of this.
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Paul himself almost says he's not clear exactly in it anyway.
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But we're not going to go into the details.
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But he has this experience with God that he could easily make a boast.
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That he could easily come up against the super apostles and say,
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well, you have your experience of God.
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This is mine.
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That I was taken up into heaven.
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That I was caught up into paradise, as he says.
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He could easily make this the argument to show,
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I have been given a superior message by God.
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But he doesn't.
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He was given something that he says in verse 4,
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I heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
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And so he was shown something, but he's not able to tell what.
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But then he shows that in order not to make him proud and boastful,
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the Lord gave him a weakness.
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In verse 7,
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So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations,
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a thorn was given me in the flesh,
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a messenger of Satan to harass me,
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to keep me from being too elated.
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To keep him from boasting,
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he was given this weakness.
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And people have speculated about what this weakness was.
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We don't maybe know entirely what it is.
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But he was given something in his own life and experience.
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And he pleaded with God to take it away from him three times.
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But then the Lord gave him these words.
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Such precious words.
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Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this,
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that it should leave me.
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But he said to me,
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My grace is sufficient for you,
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for my power is made perfect in weakness.
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And therefore I will boast, he said,
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all the more gladly of my weaknesses,
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so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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God allowed this into his life.
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God gave him this weakness,
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this thorn in the flesh to keep him humble.
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And to keep him with his focus on glorifying God
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and the grace that God is able to give.
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God allows experiences in life
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that can be difficult, that can be hard,
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but that ultimately that can assure us
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of the sufficiency of the grace of God.
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My grace is sufficient for you,
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for my power is made perfect in weakness.
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And then he goes on to say in verse 10,
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at the end of it,
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when I am weak, then I am strong.
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And behind all of this is a reminder
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not to look to the super apostles,
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not to look to a gospel that sounds great and wonderful,
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but has no substance to it and no reality to it,
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that says there will be no suffering if you believe this,
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but to look to the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
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And to see that whatever experience we have,
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that God is able to give grace in it.
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So whether we are going through illness,
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whether we are going through grief,
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whether we are going through multitude of challenges in our life,
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that God is able to say,
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I am able to give you the grace that is sufficient.
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The grace that will keep us
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and sustain us through it all.
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And what is our greatest reminder in this?
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Well, it's a reminder that brings us back
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to Jesus and what he's done.
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What did he do for his people?
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What did he do for you as you believe in him?
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Where do we look?
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We don't look in the mirror and look at ourselves.
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We look to the cross.
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And there we see what Christ has done for us.
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For it is reminding us that everything that comes our way
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has been foreordained by God,
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but that he gives grace to help.
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It is all part of God's plan.
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This was a messenger from Satan.
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It's described as here.
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He gave a messenger from Satan
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to hinder him, to harass him,
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to keep him from being too elated.
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And God gives things in our life
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that can seem as if it's from Satan himself.
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Job, in the Old Testament,
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was plagued by so many things,
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by Satan who was allowed
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to take him and to do things to him
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that seemed so cruel,
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and yet God kept him in it.
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And when you look at the cross,
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it seems like Satan is victorious there.
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That Judas, Satan put it in his heart
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to betray Jesus.
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That at the hands of wicked men,
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Satan used them to crucify the Lord Jesus.
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And yet when you read about what happened at the cross
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as it speaks of it in Acts chapter 2,
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it says there that Jesus was delivered over
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by the predetermined plan
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and foreknowledge of God.
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That God knew exactly what was going on.
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That God, this was all part of God's plan.
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And so that as Paul is looking at his life
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and he looks at this list in chapter 11
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of all the things that he has suffered,
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they don't make him any less than apostle.
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But he suffered them on behalf of his Lord Jesus Christ.
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And in all things he could say,
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my grace is sufficient.
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The grace of God was sufficient for all things.
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So God knows.
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God has mapped out our lives.
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He knows everything that we need
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and when we need it.
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And he has grace to give.
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Charles Simeon.
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He lived in the 17 and 1800s.
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He was a preacher.
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And one time he was waiting to conduct a funeral
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in a cemetery.
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He was waiting for them to arrive
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where he was going to conduct the funeral.
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And while he was waiting,
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he decided to have a walk around the cemetery.
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And he liked to look in the cemetery
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at things that were written on the gravestones.
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Maybe more so than different kinds of words
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were written on it.
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Not just scripture texts,
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but different things.
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And one caught his eye.
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And when he read it,
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it said this,
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When from the dust of death I rise
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to claim my mansion in the skies,
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even then shall this be all my plea.
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Jesus hath lived and died for me.
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And that just caught his attention.
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When we rise from the dust,
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Jesus hath lived and died for me.
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A statement of faith.
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And he was so struck by these words
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that he was looking around for someone
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to share what he'd just read with.
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Wanted someone else to see these words.
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And he was caught by seeing a young woman nearby
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who was obviously distressed.
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And he approached her and said,
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Come and read these words.
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See if they will help you.
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And she read these words,
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Jesus hath lived and died for me.
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And he shared with her the gospel.
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And he spoke to her.
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And he even took her name and her address.
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And he went to visit her the next day,
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knowing that she'd been so distressed.
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And what he found in the house
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was a dire situation.
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It was a home afflicted with poverty.
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This woman's mother was dying with asthma.
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She had two children who were sick and suffering
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in so many different ways.
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And he was just taken up by this.
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And he helped them.
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He sought help for them in different ways.
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And their lives were transformed.
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And later on, that woman spoke to him
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about the day that he had come to her in the cemetery.
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And she said to him,
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I had been there for five hours in despair.
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Despairing of life.
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Despairing of my future.
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Contemplating my very life.
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Until you came and showed me what was written.
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And she said,
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that was the moment I realized
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that Christ is able to help.
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That his grace is available to me.
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Her life was changed by the grace of God.
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And that is the power of the grace of God.
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It's not about being strong in ourselves.
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It's not about boasting in ourselves.
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It's about seeing our weakness.
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That we are frail and fragile people.
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That we all have troubles
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that we cannot face up to by ourselves.
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That there is a gracious and a loving God
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who is able to help.
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Who is able to say,
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my grace is sufficient for you.
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For my power is made perfect in weakness.
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What are you relying on for your strength today?
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There's a hymn called,
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I could not do without thee.
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One of the verses says this.
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I could not do without thee.
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I cannot stand alone.
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I have no strength or goodness,
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no wisdom of my own.
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But thou, beloved Saviour,
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art all in all to me.
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And weakness will be power
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if leaning hard on thee.
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Are you leaning on the Saviour today?
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We can go on trying to pretend
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that we have perceived strength of ourselves.
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which is reality,
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which is reality a weakness
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if we have not faith.
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But if we even feel weak today,
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if we feel so uncertain
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about so many things in our life,
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the life of others
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or the world in which we live,
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but we have faith,
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then we can be strong
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and know the grace
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of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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may he help us to come,
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not in our strength,
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but in our weakness,
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to know his strength
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made perfect
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and his grace
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that is always sufficient.
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Let us pray.
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Lord, our gracious God,
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we do thank you
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for the grace that you give
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in times of need.
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We thank you
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that it is ever sufficient
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and help us not to be swayed
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by the things of this world
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that say we will be strong in them,
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that we would recognize
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that without faith
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we have nothing,
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but by faith
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we have all that we need.
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We have everything in Christ
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for now and for eternity.
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So in our weakness, Lord,
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may you help us
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by your grace
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that we may be able to say
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when I am weak,
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then I am strong.
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We ask it in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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We're going to conclude
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by singing to God's praise
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in Psalm 27.
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Sing Psalm's version,
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Psalm 27, page 32.
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We'll sing from verse 11
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down to the end of the psalm,
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these three stanzas.
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Psalm 27 at verse 11.
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Teach me, O Lord,
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who I should live
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and lead me in your way.
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Make straight my path
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because my foes
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oppress me every day.
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Give me not over
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to the will of vehement enemies,
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for liars rise to slander me
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and breathe out cruelties.
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Yet I am sure
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that in this life
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God's goodness I will see.
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Wait for the Lord,
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be strong, take heart.
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For him wait patiently.
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We'll sing these three stanzas
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to God's praise.
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Teach me, O Lord,
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how I should live
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and lead me in your way.
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make straight my path
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because my foes
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oppress me every day.
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Give me not over
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to the will of vehement enemies.
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For liars rise to slander me
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and breathe out cruelties.
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Yet I am sure
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that in this life
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God's goodness I will see.
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wait for the Lord.
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Wait for the Lord,
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be strong, take heart.
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For him wait patiently.
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After the benediction,
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I'll go to the door to my left.
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We'll close with the benediction.
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Now may grace,
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mercy and peace
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from God,
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Father,
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Son and Holy Spirit
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rest upon
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and abide with you all
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now and forevermore.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.