1 00:00:09,950 --> 00:00:15,190 So let's get into today. We are back in Two Corinthians 2 00:00:15,430 --> 00:00:19,070 for the final time, well for the final time for a while anyway. 3 00:00:20,350 --> 00:00:24,070 We last term we went through the book of Two Corinthians and I 4 00:00:24,070 --> 00:00:26,790 was meant to close out the series just before Christmas, 5 00:00:27,030 --> 00:00:30,110 but I was ill so we didn't manage on manage to do it. 6 00:00:30,110 --> 00:00:33,270 So I'm putting it in today before we start a brand new 7 00:00:33,270 --> 00:00:35,190 series next week in the book of Malachi. 8 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,640 So if you've got a Bible, it's going to come up there. 9 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:40,720 But it's great always to read along as well. 10 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,040 You've got a Bible. I'm going to be in the first few 11 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,600 lines of Two Corinthians chapter 12. 12 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:55,560 So here we go. It says I must go on boasting. 13 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,040 This is Paul talking, although there is nothing to be to be 14 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:01,480 gained. I will go on to visions and 15 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,800 revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who 14 16 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,600 years ago was caught up in the 3rd heaven. 17 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:11,640 Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know. 18 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,920 God knows and I know that this man, whether in the body or 19 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,280 apart from the body, I do not know, but God knows, was caught 20 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:24,480 up into paradise and heard inexpressible things, things 21 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,480 that no one is permitted to tell. 22 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,400 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about 23 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,880 myself except about my weakness. Let's pause there and pray, Lord 24 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:38,320 Jesus. We thank you, Lord God, that you 25 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:42,240 are so good to us, Lord Jesus. And I pray that as we open up 26 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,400 your word and we talk about it, Lord Jesus, and we hear your 27 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:47,360 word, Lord Jesus. I pray, Lord God, that you 28 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,160 would, you would sit, you would change us, Lord Jesus, as we 29 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,840 hear your words spoken. Lord God, you would, you would 30 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,960 challenge us, Lord God, you would speak to us, Lord God, 31 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,560 even you would act in supernatural ways. 32 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,600 As we pray later on, Lord God, we ask you, you, we invite you 33 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,520 into this time. Amen. 34 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,919 And may I add, we also pray, Lord Jesus, that you would 35 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,320 supernaturally fill this hall with heat because it is cold. 36 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:19,920 I'm sorry, I'm going to, well, I'd like to preach in AI don't 37 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:21,880 like to preach with jumper on. So here we go. 38 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:23,080 I'm going to move. I'm going to move around. 39 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:24,880 I'm going to move around. You're all sitting there. 40 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:29,400 So yeah. Anyway, so let's go back to 41 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,240 this. So my question for you, if you 42 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,720 can remember what we just read in the text is what do you boast 43 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,120 about? Now? 44 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,320 You're all lovely Christian people, so you're probably 45 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:41,600 saying I don't boast about anything. 46 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:45,040 Well, what do you like people to know about you? 47 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,320 You know, when you first meet people, what are you itching for 48 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,200 them to know about you? What you can do, what what 49 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,400 you're, what you're able to do, where you've been, what you've 50 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,280 seen. Maybe, maybe still you're too 51 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,960 good to want to to push yourself onto people like that. 52 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:01,440 OK, so let's rephrase it this way. 53 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,680 What do other people you know about boast about? 54 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:06,960 What do other people boast about? 55 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:09,560 Go on, let's have some ideas. What do other people? 56 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:11,360 What have you heard? Obviously none of you do. 57 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,320 But what have you heard that people boast about? 58 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:16,040 Pardon. Cars. 59 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,560 Yeah. Cars, possessions, your home. 60 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:21,160 How much material things you've got. 61 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,840 We like in this world, we love to boast about what we've got. 62 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,040 You know how much, how much things cost. 63 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,000 You know, just just to boast about how much money we've got. 64 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,800 You know, I bought this. I bought this item of clothing. 65 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:35,760 I bought this car. Guess how much it cost me? 66 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,160 No, it cost me more than that. I can afford much more than 67 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,880 that. I mean, on the flip side, many 68 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:43,320 of us will do the reverse, won't we? 69 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,480 You know, I bought that thing off Timo that cost next to 70 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,000 nothing. I'm never going to use it. 71 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,040 But guess how little it cost me? I mean, we do that all the time. 72 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:52,320 What other things do we boast about? 73 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,400 Education. Education. 74 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,080 Yes. Do you know how intelligent I 75 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,680 am? You know, we boast about we no, 76 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,600 we don't say it like that, but we, we talk about the grades 77 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,920 that we got, the university we get, we went to, we maybe say, 78 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,720 well, do you know what job I do? I could explain it to you, but 79 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,720 you wouldn't understand. So we, we boast about all these 80 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:13,560 sorts of things. Well, come on, give me another 81 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,560 thing that we boast about the golf handicap. 82 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:20,640 Golf handicap. Oh yes, boast about. 83 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,800 Does anyone anyone boast about that golf handicap in here? 84 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:29,120 Anyone got. But we boast about our physical 85 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,440 abilities, don't we? You know, I am. 86 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:36,280 I can lift so much at the gym. How much do you press or lift? 87 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:38,960 I don't go to the gym. But you know how? 88 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,160 You know how? How? 89 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,240 You know? We we talk about how amazing we 90 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:44,880 were. You know, if you could only see 91 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,360 me in my prime, how amazing I was it. 92 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:48,360 Yeah. Well, yeah. 93 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:52,000 You know, if I wasn't, if I didn't have Emmy, you know what 94 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,800 do you know what, how you, you'd be blown away if I joined the, 95 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,080 the football team, you would just be all bowled away. 96 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,360 How amazing I truly AM. And we do it all the time, don't 97 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:03,440 we? We do, we do things, we, we 98 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:07,840 even, we boast when, when we get older and we, we have kids, we 99 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:09,880 kind of tend to stop boasting about ourselves. 100 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:11,600 But we boast about our kids, don't we? 101 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,400 In a way of boasting about ourselves, You know, have you 102 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:16,640 seen how good they are at sports? 103 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:19,600 Obviously they got that from somewhere, you know. 104 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:21,440 Have you seen how smart they are? 105 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:23,640 How how obedient they are? Have you seen? 106 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,560 We boast about them, don't we? Even as Christians we boast. 107 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:31,840 We can be tempted to boast about how good we've been, the good 108 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:35,600 works that we've done, the people that we help, the time 109 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,960 that we spent in Scripture. Do you know I've got 150 days 110 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,280 streak on the Bible app? You know, it's just we boast 111 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:46,200 about stupid things, don't we? I mean, we boast about really 112 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,760 stupid things, don't we? We boast about, you know how 113 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,320 little we've eaten. Do you know how little I've 114 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:54,440 eaten? Do you know how long I've fasted 115 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,360 for? We boast about maybe, probably 116 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,560 the ladies don't so much, but the men, well, you know, I have 117 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:02,840 are boasting about how much we've eaten. 118 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,400 You know, I, I remember, you know, we, I Remember Me and my, 119 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,520 me and my friends. We, we worked, we worked in 120 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:16,080 between A levels and uni. We, we had half a year where we 121 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,720 worked and then we went travelling and we were in 122 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:25,080 Australia and we were in a, in a, a travel thingy, whatever it 123 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:29,080 is, a youth hostel and we didn't have an awful lot of money. 124 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,000 And so we made complete use of at the time, this was quite a 125 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,760 while ago. They had, there was Pizza Hut 126 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:40,680 and Pizza Hut had, it was $3, three Australian dollars for an 127 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,240 all you could eat buffet. Now we took them to town for 128 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,640 that. We, we, we literally ate so much 129 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:48,520 we did not need to eat for two more days. 130 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,040 If we, we may we, we, we, yeah, we. 131 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,200 And we boast about stupid things like that. 132 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,680 We boast about how bad our upbringing was. 133 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,200 We boast about how good our upbringing was. 134 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,120 We boast about all kinds of things. 135 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,480 And then do you know what? It's actually not bad to 136 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:09,080 recognise, to be aware of what's good in your life. 137 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,680 It's not bad to acknowledge if you're good at something. 138 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:19,440 But what boasting is at its core, it's to make you look 139 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:23,360 better than you are by making others feel worse. 140 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,640 It's pushing others down to lift yourself up. 141 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:33,640 In the apostle Paul, he could have boasted about an awful lot 142 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:36,800 of stuff. He was a pretty impressive 143 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,640 character. But to the Philippians, he says 144 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,120 this. And now this might sound a bit 145 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,440 weird to some of you. So first of all, so we are going 146 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,640 to unpack it, but this really was boasting. 147 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:51,760 He says if someone else thinks he has something, he has reason 148 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:53,800 to put confidence in the flesh to boast. 149 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:58,560 I have more now you see what I mean by boasting a circumcised 150 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:04,320 on the 8th day, a people, the 8th day of the people of Israel, 151 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,680 of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews in regard to 152 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,520 the law, Pharisee as zeal, A persecute to the church. 153 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,280 As for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 154 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:22,840 What we're saying is I was from the best family, I had the best 155 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,760 education. I was top of my class and 156 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,600 actually I was selected to study under the most influential 157 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:35,159 teacher of my day, he says. He goes on in Two Corinthians 158 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,520 and he says I knew a man, he's talking about himself. 159 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:44,240 I knew a man who 14 years ago was caught up to the 3rd heaven, 160 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,320 3rd heaven. If you remember 1st heaven in 161 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:49,880 the ancient world, they thought of heaven as the, the, the, the 162 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:51,800 sky around us, the air we breathe. 163 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:55,400 So that's 1st heaven. 2nd heaven is where the sun, moon, stars, 164 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,320 clouds are. And the 3rd heaven was God's 165 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,360 throne room. So he says I know about, I was 166 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:05,680 caught up to the, to the 3rd heaven to God's throne room. 167 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:08,960 Whether it was in the body or out of the body, I don't know. 168 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:13,640 God knows and I know, I know, I know that this man, whether in 169 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:15,960 the body or apart from the body, I do not know. 170 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:20,880 But God knows was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible 171 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,800 things that no one is permitted to tell. 172 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,800 So Paul could boast about his intelligence. 173 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:30,960 He could boast about his family. He could boast about the exams 174 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:33,520 and the people who had chose to be around him. 175 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,280 He could also boast about what he'd seen. 176 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,360 I mean, people believe that, that that he's maybe talking 177 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,800 about a time when it looked like he had been killed. 178 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,320 He might have actually been killed and then he ascended to 179 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,600 heaven and then was brought back to life. 180 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:50,840 It says that he was prayed. It's looked like he was dead. 181 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:52,920 He was prayed for and then he came back to life again. 182 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:55,680 So he can boast not only in the things that he's done and his 183 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:58,240 intelligence, but he can also boast the fact that he's seen 184 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,040 heaven. He's been there. 185 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:04,280 I mean, you may have heard of people who have, who've been to 186 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:07,080 heaven and come back. I mean, one of the first things 187 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:09,440 they do, they write a book about it, don't they? 188 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,800 They write a book about it. I mean, I was, I was thinking 189 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,680 about if this was me, the sort of book deals I might come up 190 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:19,880 with, the sort of book titles I might like to, to title this. 191 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:21,920 And I was coming up with some ideas that, you know, maybe if 192 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:23,200 you've got some others you can tell me. 193 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,600 But I was thinking, you know, the heaven and back again, An 194 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,880 apostle's tale. I thought of that whilst I was 195 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,160 reading The Hobbit, actually. How to Win Friends and influent 196 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,800 angels. The Apostle Paul and the secret 197 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:39,760 to the universe. The Apostles Guide to the 198 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:41,120 heavens. If you've got anything else, 199 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,680 please let me know. See, Paul could have boasted 200 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:49,240 about many, many, many things. He could have told people, you 201 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:51,880 should listen to me. You ought to listen to me. 202 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,640 Because do you not know who I am, how amazing I am, what I 203 00:10:55,640 --> 00:11:02,440 have seen he say. I'm a person of influence. 204 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:10,320 I'm a person of power. But instead he says, no, I'm not 205 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,080 boasting what I've seen. I'm not boasting about my own 206 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,440 abilities. In fact, he says, I will not 207 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:25,000 boast about myself except about my weakness. 208 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:33,120 See the world, the people around you, us, if we're honest, we 209 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:39,600 want power, we want influence so we don't have to be weak, so we 210 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,600 can escape weakness, so we can that we can be self reliant. 211 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,680 But Paul says, what does Paul say? 212 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:51,480 He should boast in? He boasts in weakness. 213 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:55,440 Let's have that again, Paul said, boasting weakness. 214 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,240 Paul boast in weakness. It seems like completely upside 215 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,560 down. Why would you boast in your 216 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:06,240 weakness? Now whilst having many 217 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,400 strengths, Paul did have weaknesses, mainly brought on 218 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,000 for the fact that he chose to follow Jesus. 219 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,280 Weaknesses. The weaknesses because he was, 220 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:20,280 he was mocked, he was ridiculed. He was on the path to be one of 221 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,960 the most influential people in all of Judah. 222 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:27,960 And then he follows Jesus and he is mocked, he is ridiculed. 223 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,680 He goes through times of hardship where not because he 224 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:34,080 chooses to, just because there isn't any. 225 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:36,120 He go. He goes for lack of food. 226 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,360 He says to the Philippians, he's persecuted because of his 227 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:41,400 beliefs. He goes through shipwrecks, 228 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,360 things which the Super apostles, if you can remember, mentioned 229 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,560 in this letter, would have said. That means that God is not on 230 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:52,040 your side having all these bad things happen to you, 231 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:55,200 struggling, suffering, having thing. 232 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:58,040 People say things like that having the weather against you 233 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,240 would mean that God is not on your side. 234 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:07,320 But Paul goes on to describe his weakness and boast in it. 235 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:13,360 He boasts in it actually, as well as these these hardships 236 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,520 that happen. It says that in the previous 237 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:20,120 chapter he says five times. I was flogged. 238 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,200 He had that. He he had the he was lashed. 239 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:29,800 He was tied down and lashed several times, which once alone 240 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,560 would have left the skin raw and scarred. 241 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:38,080 He would have gone through shock from loss of blood and the pain. 242 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:44,640 He would have experienced excessive dehydration but having 243 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:49,560 it done five times, the mass scarring would have produced 244 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,920 restricted movement in his back. It would have created nerve 245 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:58,840 damage and constant pain. It would have left his body so 246 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:03,200 traumatised that he probably would have suffered from from 247 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,320 weakness, fatigue, from infection because of it. 248 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,400 So why does he say I boast in these things? 249 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,320 Why does he say I boast? Because I am weak. 250 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,960 Like I said at the beginning, boasting, natural boasting, is 251 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:27,120 about pushing others down, to make us bigger, to make us look 252 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:32,600 more impressive than we are. And the reality is when we boast 253 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:38,760 about how amazing we are to the outside world, we're saying our 254 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:44,240 God isn't that impressive. God is still impressive, but 255 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:48,320 we're saying he's not. But when we boasts in our 256 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,920 weakness, and let's be fair, we're all weak, whether we admit 257 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:58,560 it or not, we're displaying that God is big, God is strong. 258 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,640 You see, the Apostle Paul, he planted numerous churches, he 259 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,560 wrote letters which saw massive impact in the gospel that still 260 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:12,400 has effect today. But he said, not I, Christ in 261 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,000 me. Do you think of Gideon? 262 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:18,280 Think of Gideon. Gideon is is charged by God to 263 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,960 raise up an army to fight against the the the invading 264 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,960 Midianite army. And he raised up this army, 265 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,640 which is tiny. But God looks at the army and 266 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:32,680 says you need to shrink that down. 267 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:35,360 You need to get rid of a load of people. 268 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:38,240 Why? Because I don't want you to 269 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:43,000 deceive yourself in thinking, in believing that when the 270 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,320 Midianites are defeated, it was because you're great. 271 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:51,440 I want you to completely wholeheartedly know that the 272 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,080 reason why the Midianites are going to be defeated isn't 273 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,080 because of you. It's because I'm great. 274 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:03,480 It's because God is great. You see, when we boast in our 275 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:08,040 weaknesses, when the world sees a rat, you know, we might we 276 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,240 want to be we're tempted so often that we want to be a 277 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:15,480 polished, pretty, got everything together church. 278 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,200 So the world will look at us and think, wow, how amazing are 279 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,040 they? I want to follow their gods, 280 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,440 which the reality is when we're real, when we should tell the 281 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,080 world that we're flawed and we're just as messed up as they 282 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:33,040 are, they go, oh, and God is still working through you. 283 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,320 I mean, I know you pretty well. He must be impressive. 284 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:46,360 God must be impressive. You see, the amazing thing is 285 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:51,520 none of us should desire, should want to suffer, None of us 286 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:57,240 should welcome suffering. But God uses suffering in a way 287 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:02,760 that only he can. He says here that he had a he 288 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,000 had a messenger thorn in the flesh from Satan. 289 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:17,160 But he goes on to say thank you. He goes on to say that the thorn 290 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:25,200 in the flesh was a messenger from Satan that God used for his 291 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:30,600 glory to stop Paul from becoming conceited, becoming prideful. 292 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:39,760 You see, we worship for gods who can do what only God can do, 293 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:47,840 that when evil comes, he can turn it for good, he can turn it 294 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:52,600 for good. Satan, thorns, weakness, 295 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:56,320 persecution, it does not come from God. 296 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:01,400 God allows it, but it comes from the enemy. 297 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:08,000 But God can take that, can take what the enemy wanted for evil 298 00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:13,360 and turn it and use it for good. Because when we are made aware 299 00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:17,480 of our weakness, when we are made aware of our sufferings, 300 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,000 we're made aware of the fact that we need gods. 301 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:25,520 I mean, how true is this of all of us that when things are going 302 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,120 great, when we don't need to worry about money, when everyone 303 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:34,360 seems to be happy, we ignore God, we don't think too whatever 304 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:38,600 about him, but as soon as thing goes wrong, we're like God, I 305 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,240 need you. I realise I'm not in control of 306 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:43,280 my life. I realise that I don't have it 307 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,920 all together. God, I need you see, see, 308 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,480 suffering shows us that we're not self-sufficient, that we're 309 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,400 not ultimately in control, that we need God's. 310 00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:58,240 But that does not mean that we welcome it. 311 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:04,440 It doesn't mean that we, we, we thank God for our suffering. 312 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:08,080 Actually, what does Paul do? Actually, it says it says that. 313 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:13,600 What does Paul do? It says 3 * 3 * I pleaded with 314 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:17,480 the Lord to take, to take this suffering, to take this thorn 315 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,720 away from me. Since he pleaded, he's not just 316 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,400 walking on the road going. This is really annoying, this 317 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:26,680 pain. God, if you wouldn't mind, you 318 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:30,240 take it from me. No, no, he's, he's down on his 319 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:32,600 knees. He's begging God. 320 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:37,440 God, I need this to change. God, I need you to work in my 321 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:39,480 life. God, I need you to provide. 322 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,360 Look, God, I need you to take this pain from me. 323 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:43,880 Look, God, I need you to take this from me. 324 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,800 Whatever it was, we don't know, but God, take it away from me. 325 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,920 You see, when someone is suffering, whether it's you or 326 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,840 someone else, if you remember back to what Jeff brought a few 327 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,920 weeks before Christmas, we do not believe in karma. 328 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:05,440 We do not believe in karma, that if someone is suffering, if 329 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,440 you're suffering, it's because you've angered gods. 330 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:13,840 Now karma teaches you do good, God does good to you, you do 331 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:17,680 bad, God does bad to you. No, the gospel teaches you do 332 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,160 good, you do bad, but God always does good. 333 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:28,080 God always does good to us. So therefore, what do we do when 334 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,000 we're suffering? What do we do when we see 335 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,800 someone who's suffering? A friend, a brother, a sister, a 336 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:39,200 stranger on the street? We follow Paul's example and we 337 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:44,840 pray for that thorn to be taken. We pray that God would heal. 338 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:49,200 We pray that God would sort out whatever situation that is. 339 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:57,960 And we pray over and over and over and over again, you know, 340 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,680 and sometimes we've seen it here many times. 341 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:06,560 God says yes, and that situation has changed. 342 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:14,760 That person is healed. Sometimes he says just wait a 343 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:19,440 bit and sometimes he says exactly what he says to Paul 344 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,800 here. He says I've got something 345 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,400 better for you. He says my grace is sufficient 346 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:30,480 for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 347 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:35,040 God, please, please heal me. God, take away this storm from 348 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:39,800 me, Paul, I've got something better for you. 349 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:46,320 I'm not going to heal you, but I'm going to use your suffering 350 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:53,320 to display my power in a way that is going to magnify how 351 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,240 great I am. But I'm not going to leave you 352 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:00,200 in that. I'm going to give you the grace 353 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:05,160 to continue every single day. See, when we meet people, when 354 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:09,640 we ourselves are suffering, we pray for God to heal, we pray 355 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:15,680 for God to act, but we also need to pray for the grace to 356 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,240 continue, for the grace to move on. 357 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,240 You see, there are many of you suffering here. 358 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,920 And I want to pray for you before we go today and pray and 359 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,520 believe that God will and does heal. 360 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:36,920 But God is looking for a people who don't say, I will worship 361 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:43,400 you once I've been made better. I'll serve when I'm not feeling 362 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,080 so tired. I'll come early and help set up 363 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,240 or do the tea and coffee or help with the kids. 364 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,560 When everything, when you've acted in my life and made 365 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,120 everything good for me, God, then I'll help. 366 00:22:55,600 --> 00:23:00,040 No, no, God's looking for a people who say whether you heal 367 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:05,280 me or not, whether you make things in my life better or not 368 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:10,000 by the grace of God or I'm going to give my all for your Kingdom. 369 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,440 And in that way he gets the glory either way, because you 370 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:20,320 get healed, he gets the glory, Your situation changes, the 371 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,320 impossible happens, God gets the glory. 372 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,080 It doesn't. But you serve. 373 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:32,520 You participate in building his Kingdom. 374 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:38,840 The world looks at you and says, wow, you must serve an amazing 375 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:44,040 God because you're willing to serve him even through the pain, 376 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:54,200 even through the suffering. What do you do when Satan throws 377 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,920 some thorns at you? How do you respond? 378 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:02,320 Do you mope? Do you get angry? 379 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:06,000 Do you hate the world? Do you wish to die? 380 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,200 I've done all of them, so I'm not preaching down to anyone. 381 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:17,560 Do you get bitter or do you ask for His grace to continue? 382 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:22,080 See. In weakness. 383 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:32,080 In weakness, in suffering, we have a privilege to serve God. 384 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:37,280 You see, we as we suffer, we have a privilege to serve God 385 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:43,360 like we'll never have again. One day, maybe today, maybe 386 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:49,520 later on, maybe at the end of time, but one day all sickness, 387 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:55,400 all suffering will cease and you will worship God forever and 388 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:57,760 ever. But it's only now that you get 389 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,400 the privilege of being able to worship gods through the muck. 390 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:06,920 You get to be a witness to others, to see you worshipping 391 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:14,760 God despite illness, chronic illness, despite situations that 392 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:20,960 are rubbish in our lives. You see, Satan sends sickness, 393 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:25,880 he sends thorns, he sends things against us so that we might 394 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:30,120 become bitter, so that we may not, so we may give up. 395 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:34,920 So we so we use it as an excuse not to serve, not to work in his 396 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:41,880 Kingdom. But when we worship God through 397 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:48,480 that, when we choose to build his Kingdom despite it, we are 398 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:54,120 heaping burning coals, the Bible says upon our enemies heads. 399 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,800 We are frustrating Him because we are using the very thing he 400 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,040 has sent against us to make us stumble. 401 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:08,040 We're using that to greater glorify God. 402 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:14,920 See, it's all because of grace. It's all because of grace. 403 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,920 He heals. He changes your situation. 404 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,160 It's grace. It's not because you were good 405 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,240 and don't believe the lie. OK, we all tell ourselves this. 406 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,360 You have a good week. God's happy with me. 407 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,680 You have a bad week. God's angry with me. 408 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:37,280 No, no, God heals. God gives you a good week. 409 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,800 God makes amazing things happen in your life today. 410 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,200 Praise God. It's because of His grace. 411 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,400 Rubbish happens, sickness continues. 412 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:53,320 You praise God because of his grace. 413 00:26:55,880 --> 00:27:01,280 It's all because of his grace. Just want to end by reading the 414 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:05,440 last few lines of the book of Two Corinthians. 415 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,320 It says finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice. 416 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:13,760 How do we rejoice by grace? I'm going to read this again 417 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:17,240 because you need warming up. OK, Finally, brothers and 418 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:21,400 sisters, rejoice. How do we rejoice by grace? 419 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,800 Strive for full, full restoration. 420 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,520 How do we strive by grace? Encourage one another. 421 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,960 How do we encourage one another? The answer is always by grace. 422 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,800 By the way. Be 1 Be one of mind. 423 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,320 Live in peace. How do we live in peace? 424 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:43,120 Yes. And the God and the God of love 425 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:45,240 and peace be with you. How is he with us? 426 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,880 By grace to greet one another with a holy kiss. 427 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,960 Love one another. All God's people here send their 428 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:56,000 greetings. May the grace, may the grace of 429 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,800 the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship 430 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,960 of the Holy Spirit be with you. By grace. 431 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,840 We're going to pray now. We're going to pray. 432 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:13,320 When I say we're going to pray, I mean we're going to pray. 433 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:15,600 You know, there's nothing more special about my prayers than 434 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,560 your prayers, OK? We all have a we all have a line 435 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:25,520 to Gods, OK? So if you are ill, if you have a 436 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:29,800 sickness, if you have something in your life that you need 437 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,800 moving, if you've got a thorn in your flesh, I'd love you to 438 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:37,160 raise your hand. And the people around you are 439 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:39,680 going to pray. And we're going to pray for God 440 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,680 to take that away. And we're going to pray. 441 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,920 And this isn't a lack of faith. We're going to pray in faith 442 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:48,840 that he takes it away. But we're also going to pray 443 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:53,280 that it if it goes or it doesn't go, that we would have the grace 444 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:57,960 to continue to glorify God no matter what happens. 445 00:28:57,960 --> 00:28:59,840 So who needs something changing in their life? 446 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:08,200 Put your hands up, right? For those of you who don't have 447 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:13,280 your hands up, move forward and gather round. 448 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,040 Just sit next to these people who've got their hands up. 449 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,200 You don't need to ask them what what they want changing. 450 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:26,280 And we're going to pray that God will move in their lives, that 451 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:27,320 God has healed them.