Sermon by Mike Mazzalongo
Video Title: My Grace is Sufficient – Mike Mazzalongo
Creator: Bibletalk.tv
Original Video: My Grace is Suffient - Mike Mazzalongo / Bibletalk.tv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IejSw9MgELE&t=1s
License: Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)
Video Title: My Grace is Sufficient – Mike Mazzalongo
Creator: Bibletalk.tv
Original Video: My Grace is Suffient - Mike Mazzalongo / Bibletalk.tv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IejSw9MgELE&t=1s
License: Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)
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00:00Please open your Bibles to 2nd Corinthians, please. Our lesson will be
00:03taken from this passage, 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 and we'll read that in a
00:11moment. I want to start with a question and the question is this, have you ever
00:19noticed that there's always something holding you back? Ever notice that?
00:26Always something holding you back. Let me put it to you another way, have you
00:33noticed that there's always a fly in the ointment? There's always one or two
00:38things that prevent you from having just about everything you want or having it
00:42exactly your way, you've got it almost your way except for this or that. For
00:49example, you've got a great job and a great family but there's something wrong
00:53with your body, headache or diabetes or sore back or whatever that interferes
01:00with total enjoyment you can say well I've just got everything I'm so blessed
01:04except for those migraines. Or you've just built the house that you've always
01:11wanted and you discover that your neighbor has a constantly barking dog or
01:17decided to raise chickens or you've worked hard you've saved up you've
01:26gotten the children settled married off you're ready to travel finally
01:32and then your father dies leaving a sick mother to care for 24 hours a day. Or
01:40you're young and you're strong and you're smart but you struggle with
01:45depression or perhaps a secret sin that only you know about but that's just
01:52eating your lunch. I mean I could go on but I think you get the picture, it
01:58seems that no matter what is right in our lives there's always something that
02:04takes the shine off, there's always something that spoils what could have
02:09been just an ideal perfect situation and it happens to all of us. Of course
02:16we're not unique as I said and this is not a new phenomenon in life, even Paul
02:22the Apostle one of the most dynamic Apostles experienced this type of
02:28disappointment and he wrote about it to our benefit. Now Paul the Apostle was
02:38undoubtedly one of the most successful preachers, writers, missionaries, Apostles.
02:43I mean he performed miracles, God used him to write a good portion of the New
02:50Testament, he established most of the first congregations of the church in the
02:55Roman Empire, he was responsible for breaching the wall between Jew and
03:01Gentile, certainly Peter was the first one to preach to the Gentiles but Paul
03:05did a lot of work with Gentiles especially given the ministry that he
03:12was given by the Lord. All of this success, all of these blessings upon his
03:18ministry, all of these things were tempered however with many
03:22disappointments and frustrations. He was often beaten and jailed, many times people
03:31within the church and outside the church were attacking him and opposing him,
03:35several of his close associates abandoned him, when things got
03:41tough they just left him. It seemed that no matter what heights
03:46he scaled in the service of the Lord there was always a spoiler, there was
03:51always a competing negative force making sure that the situation was never
03:56completely satisfying. Now this pattern in his life finally came to a head one
04:03day when Paul was given a special vision, a special revelation from the Lord which
04:10literally took him out of this dimension and somehow transported him into the
04:16heavenly or the spiritual dimension. And Paul describes this experience in
04:232nd Corinthians chapter 12. Now he's speaking of himself in the third person
04:30probably for humility's sake but he says of this experience in chapter 12 of
04:362nd Corinthians beginning verse 1 he says,
04:39boasting is necessary though it is not profitable but I will go on to visions
04:44and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago whether in
04:51the body I do not know or out of the body I do not know God knows such a man
04:57was caught up to the third heaven and I know how such a man whether in the body
05:03or apart from the body I do not know God knows was caught up into paradise and
05:09heard inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak. Think about this
05:18for a moment imagine the feeling imagine the absolute thrill of being
05:23brought into the heavenly realm while still in your earthly body certainly
05:28it's a promise for all of us one day but imagine being in that dimension while
05:34still in your earthly body imagine the joy imagine the sense of empowerment
05:40imagine the gratitude the zeal the renewed faith that this could give a
05:46person boy a guy would be on fire you think you're on fire sometimes when you
05:50hear a good lesson or you read a passage in scripture or something like that you
05:54think you're really on fire imagine how on fire you'd be for the Lord if you're
05:58actually in heaven. The assurance the knowledge I mean if Paul was a mighty
06:08preacher and teacher if he was a zealous missionary before this experience
06:14imagine what he could be after such a vision what a spiritual boost to
06:22consciously see and experience heaven before you die. Now just as he is
06:30spiritually pumped just as he is spiritually invincible because of this
06:37vision look at what happens see what he says comes along immediately after his
06:43mountaintop experience go down to verse 7 he says,
06:48because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations for this reason to keep
06:56me, now he realizes he's talking about himself I mean he's telling his
07:00readers I'm really talking about myself he says, for this reason to keep me from
07:05exalting myself there was given me a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan
07:12to torment me to keep me from exalting myself. So no sooner than he was at the
07:21top a thorn a restriction a spoiler a downer was added to the mix by the Lord.
07:33Now there's a lot of discussion about what exactly happened to him a lot
07:38of people like to debate what was it a vision problem a disease but who cares
07:43what it was I mean physically the point that Paul makes is that for him it was a
07:50burden it was a restriction it was a spoiler it was a thorn a thorn is the
07:55way he refers to it does it matter if it's it's a sore back or a migraine or
07:59low vision or high blood pressure dizzy spells vertigo does it matter what it is
08:06it don't matter what it is what matters is he says this was a thorn in my flesh
08:15something that caused pain and diverted his attention from the sublime
08:20experience that he had planned to enjoy to a discomforting annoyance always
08:27present. Now I'll tell you that this is where Christians part company with
08:35the rest of the world. For unbelievers when there is a problem the objective
08:43is to minimize and eliminate the thorns as quickly and as painfully as possible.
08:50If you're not a believer and there's a thorn the objective is let's just get
08:54rid of this thorn the faster the better, but for unbelievers excuse me for
09:01unbelievers the ultimate goal is personal happiness and freedom from
09:07thorns that's what everybody's chasing after. Christians on the other hand have
09:13a different approach one articulated by Paul in his effort to deal with this
09:19particular thorn and I think him talking about how he dealt with his
09:27thorn that was spoiling his great vision perhaps gives us some
09:34information on how we can deal with our thorns that spoil the blessings and the
09:39wonderful life that we may have. You see for Christians there are three possible
09:47responses for the spoiler elements in life for the thorns that often come into
09:54our lives to threaten our peace to threaten our happiness to spoil our
10:00contentment, they're all in the passage. The first response of a Christian to the
10:05thorns of life, prayer, prayer. Verse 8 he says,
10:11concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me, leave
10:17me. You see Paul prayed a legitimate prayer that the thorn be removed notice
10:25also that he kept on praying until he had some kind of relief some kind of
10:30response. I mean simply resigning ourselves to difficulties and obstacles
10:36to the thorns of life that is not necessarily the Christian thing to do
10:41some people think you have the thorn you just say well I guess that's
10:44what the Lord wants I'm just going to take it you know that's not that's
10:48doormat I think that's doormat living. It's okay to aggressively seek to remove
10:56those things that reduce our joy and our satisfaction in life our peace and our
11:01happiness I'm going to tell you if there's a cure I want it and if there's
11:07a solution I want it and if there's a way out show me I'm going to be praying
11:15for that. And having exhausted his natural resources in dealing with the
11:22problem Paul began to beat on the door of heaven through prayer for relief not
11:27once and I don't mean like three times in a day he's talking about he is
11:31intensely coming to the Lord about this issue. Prayer is our effective tool in
11:39removing the many thorns of life that often spoil what could be a good life or
11:45could be the difference between a fair life and a great life. Sometimes our
11:51prayers for relief are answered and we simply continue on in the way we were
11:56before our thorn began to cause us pain hallelujah like my mother used to teach
12:01me somebody gives you something just say thank you the Lord answers your
12:08prayer just say thank you don't they say why why did you answer my prayer who
12:13cares why thank you Lord thank you. Sometimes our prayers for relief are
12:21answered but not in the way that we had hoped. Sometimes God chooses to leave the
12:29thorn in place for an indefinite amount of time. In these cases we have another
12:36response which Paul describes in verse 9 and that is submission. Verse 9 he says
12:44and he meaning God and he has said to me my grace is sufficient for you for power
12:53is perfected in weakness most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my
12:59weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Second response to a
13:06thorn, submission. In this verse God speaks to Paul and Paul responds to the
13:13Lord and God's answer to his prayers is to remind Paul of the spiritual
13:19principle that the thorn has been sent to teach him. He prays he says God please
13:27take away the thorn he's focused on the thorn and God answers his prayers how? By
13:34explaining to Paul why the thorn is there and the reason the thorn has been
13:42sent to him is to teach him that God's power is more easily and clearly seen in
13:49a person who is weak and dependent on God than one who is strong and
13:56self-sufficient. What a lesson to learn. I didn't think about this but what
14:04a lesson to learn on Father's Day because isn't that what men do? Isn't
14:13that what men want? They want to be self-sufficient. They don't want the
14:21thorn because if the thorn comes they may have to depend on somebody so they
14:27don't want the thorn. It would be easy for Paul the miracle worker the
14:34prolific missionary the insightful teacher to stumble into pride and
14:39conceit on account of all his incredible achievements and then add to
14:44that being in the heavenly realm in bodily form. And it would be easy for the
14:50church to exalt the man Paul for his abilities and success above other men.
14:57But this thorn reduced him to dependence on others to do his work. This thorn drove
15:06him to his knees in prayer for strength. Why is it that when we're happy and
15:13everything's going great we pray standing up and then when everything
15:17blows up and falls apart then we think of kneeling down? I wonder if
15:25things would go better if we knelt down when things were going well and gave
15:30thanks. And so despite his great success and prestige in the church this thorn
15:37served to reveal the true source of his power in ministry. This thorn was a
15:44constant reminder that his was a fragile life held delicately in the hand of God.
15:55You see Paul's submission was not necessarily a submission to the presence
16:00of the thorn that's the best that unbelievers can do when they have a
16:06thorn that won't go away they simply accept its constant presence and they
16:11carry on that's called Stoicism that's not Christianity. No Paul's submission
16:19was to the purpose that God had for allowing the thorn to enter him and to
16:25remain in his life. He didn't accept the pain he accepted the purpose the purpose
16:35for the thorn. This type of response is a response of faith this is what he says
16:44when he answers the Lord. He submits to the change in circumstances the shift
16:51that his life has taken because of the thorn. You see it went beyond just the
16:57thorn he's gone from being a strong independent man to a physically weak and
17:05dependent man and he submits to God's new demand of him. You're wondering well
17:13what demand is that? That he suffer? What demand is God making of him? That he
17:23accept the thorn and stop whining moaning? No the new demand is that he now
17:33witnessed Christ through his weakness rather than through his former strength
17:39that's the demand. Rather than be depressed and angry or refuse to accept
17:46the new reality Paul sees the opportunity to reveal Christ in a way
17:51that he could not do before and that is through his weaknesses. And so as
18:00Christians we submit to the thorns of life by learning to glorify God and serve
18:06Christ as people with thorns. Do you see the difference? Some people simply learn
18:14to live with their thorns they make the best of it but Christians like Paul are
18:21called upon not just to make the best of life with their thorns they're called
18:26upon to glorify God despite their thorns. And so what are the responses that Paul
18:36makes to the thorn in his flesh? One, prayer. Two, submission. And finally when the
18:45thorns of life come we as Christian can do one other thing we can rise above we
18:52can rise above. Verse 10 Paul says, therefore I am well content with
18:58weaknesses. Whoa what did he say? He's just gone from beating on the door of
19:04heaven saying take this thorn away from me and a couple of verses down he says
19:08therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses,
19:15with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ's sake for when I am weak I am
19:24strong. We give lip service to that when I am weak I am strong you know why?
19:31Because we don't want to be weak. We like to say when I am strong I'm strong we
19:38don't like to say when I'm weak I am strong. When I say rise above I don't
19:43mean to ignore the problem or pretend it doesn't exist or try to be as much like
19:49a person without a thorn as I can be. Look at what Paul says he is well
19:55content with weaknesses you know the particular thorn that he prayed about he
20:01is also well content with all other thorns that he's had to suffer as well
20:07insults that's a thorn, distress that's a thorn, persecution that's a thorn. He
20:15acknowledges that he is a man with many thorns and yet he is content. Whoa wait a
20:24minute something wrong here isn't contentment what we are looking for?
20:29Isn't contentment what we think we're going to find when we remove all the
20:34thorns all the restraints all the spoilers if we can get rid of all those
20:38things then we're going to be content. But Paul says here yeah you know all
20:44those thorns I'm content. What is he a masochist? He goes on to acknowledge that
20:52to bear with thorns and here's the key for Christ's sake there's the key right
21:01there to bear with thorns for Christ's sake to be made weak for the sake of
21:11Christ that makes him strong. So this man with many thorns finds contentment and
21:20strength the very same thing that people are searching for by trying to remove
21:26all the thorns he finds it by leaving the thorns in. What's the point? What's
21:36the difference? Here it is, enduring the thorns for Christ's sake meaning with
21:45and for one's faith in Jesus gives you the same thing and that is contentment
21:52and strength that removing all the thorns is supposed to give you. The only
21:58difference is that you can never remove all the thorns they are always there in
22:03one way or another you remove one another one shows up. And so for a
22:09Christian to submit to the thorns of life that chooses that God
22:15chooses to leave in your flesh the thorns of life that God chooses to leave
22:21in your life is really the way to rise above the ordinary pursuit of happiness
22:27and power and ultimately gain for oneself contentment and true strength
22:34through Christ Jesus. We often say well I show Christ through my
22:43weakness and we always think my weakness is oh well I'm not
22:48perfect we think that's my weakness oh I'm not perfect, but try showing Christ
23:00through your failures, try that. And try showing Christ when the doctor
23:09says we can't do anything for you anymore or try showing Christ when you're
23:18spouse is not a spouse to you anymore because she is ill or he is gone or
23:26whatever, try it then. So the weaker I become the stronger Christ becomes in me.
23:40The less of me that I am the more of Him becomes visible. The poorer I am in this
23:51world the richer I become in Christ. The thornier my life becomes the greater my
23:58dependence and consequently my contentment is in Christ. Don't we see it?
24:04The more I depend on God for every every every everything the more I find
24:12contentment and peace and sometimes God has to nudge us along by putting some
24:17thorns in us. They say everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants
24:25to die, well in the same way it seems that everybody wants more of Jesus in
24:31their lives but nobody wants the thorns that will bring Him in. We don't
24:41always realize it but God's answer to Paul's prayer is still very much the
24:47answer to our own daily prayers concerning the various thorns that we
24:51all struggle with. When we apply these words to ourselves we see that God's
25:00grace is truly sufficient in every way now as it was for Paul then. For example
25:10His grace is still sufficient to supply every one of our needs, that wasn't just
25:18the first century thing that's a forever thing. Whether it's food or shelter or
25:23help with troubles and sickness God still supplies according to His grace
25:28which is boundless. There's no need to trust in worldly riches or the power of
25:35man God's grace is able to supply our every need we need only to ask believing
25:44that He hears. Secondly His grace is still sufficient to cover our sins. Jesus
25:53once for all and He died for all people and all sin, I John 1 we talked
26:00about that last week 9 and 10. When coming to God for forgiveness let's
26:05realize that His grace covers every sin that you have committed there's no need
26:10to fear no need to worry why should someone who's been a Christian for 20
26:15years worry about sin? Now we always need to be on guard for sin of course the
26:26tempter is always at work the tempter is always trying to distract us and to
26:32seduce us so I am on guard but I'm not worried there's a big difference and His
26:41grace is still sufficient to complete our final transformation what the law
26:47could not accomplish the grace of Christ completes in full. I read another passage
26:54in Romans chapter 8 verse 3 and 4 Paul says, for what the law could not do weak
27:00as it was through the flesh God did sending His own Son in the likeness of
27:06sinful flesh and as an offering for sin He condemned sin in the flesh so that
27:11the requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk
27:16according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. And so our final resurrection
27:22to glory and exaltation to the right hand of God is powered by grace and
27:28there is sufficient grace to transform every believer into an eternal being.
27:35Isn't it amazing that God has given us not only the resurrection of Christ to
27:42confirm our faith in Him but He's also given us the experience of Paul an
27:48ordinary man like us Paul was not the God-man that Jesus is Paul was an
27:55ordinary man like us and yet he was in heaven seeing and hearing things he says
28:03that we ought not to say why because we can't we can't speak of these things
28:07they're too wonderful and yet we have that example to encourage us. Paul the
28:15Apostle learned that what he needed was not relief from the thorn or more
28:20strength to overcome the thorn but rather the realization that if he had
28:24God's grace he had everything he would ever need to achieve all he ever desired.
28:32In Christ. And so I ask you this evening do you have God's grace working in your
28:41life? It begins to work in you when you submit to His command to believe in
28:47Jesus Christ repent of your sins be united with Him in the waters of
28:52baptism it begins there and it continues to work in you as you submit to God's
28:57plan for your life whatever that is whatever many thorns that may include
29:02it's not as if God made a mistake it's not as if God forgot you it's not as if
29:07God fumbled the ball somehow when it comes to your life you are exactly where
29:14you're supposed to be if you're a Christian if you're not a Christian
29:18you're supposed to be in Christ but if you are in Christ you are exactly where
29:23you are supposed to be. And it completes this grace completes its work when Jesus
29:32returns for you in death or in glory for the final and the eternal transformation.
29:39I am so anxious so looking forward to being me without sin I'm looking so
29:51forward to seeing you without sin that we can have fellowship where neither of
30:02us are subject to sin any longer. I mean we have a wonderful fellowship right
30:08here and now and we're still sinners we're forgiven sinners you know and yet
30:12somehow we have this wonderful fellowship can you imagine how wonderful
30:16it will be if you just remove the weakness of the flesh and we have the
30:21glorified body without sin without reference to sin how marvelous it will
30:26be truly they call it heaven for a reason. God's grace is sufficient for you
30:34and if you need to submit to His grace or to respond to Him in any way this
30:39evening whether it be to be baptized or to be restored to place membership with
30:44this congregation that you might be under the leadership of our elders and
30:49give us the right hand of fellowship if that's what you need to do whatever it
30:52is we encourage you to come forward now.