Paul A pastor in pain? INTRO DUCTION: Good morning. Probably you are expecting Ps. Kevin and think he has shrunk during the week. But no – its only me. Bryan Hoar. Today is Grandparent’s Day – so a grandparent is preaching (not that Kevin and Kerry aren’t gps) October is PASTOR APPRECIATION MONTH – brought in by Americans and some churches and people in Aus recognise it. GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS! GOOD NEWS is that I am only speaking to ONE person this morning – so the rest of you can have a doze BAD NEWS is that the one person I am speaking to is – YOU.

2 Corinthians 12:1-10 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows Some commentators see Paul speaking about himself perhaps the amazing Damascus Road experience

3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 

6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited,

I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul A top Christian - a pastor Here we see “a portion of his secret life” (Spurgeon) N.B. PASTORS HAVE PROBLEMS

EGO DANGER! v. 7 “surpassingly great revelations”. “threatened to intoxicate him with pride” (Spurgeon) The danger of “success”

“thorn in the flesh” Small? Or large? Strong’s Dictionary:- anything pointed, a stake or thorn; fig: a sharp affliction Physical Mental Spiritual

Physical thorn “in the flesh”” Recurrent malaria, (Ramsay) Gout (Rosenmuller – Spurgeon) Malta fever, Severe earaches/headaches (Tertullian) epilepsy, (Klaushner) convulsive attacks, stammering and chronic ophthalmia (Gal. 4:15) Did Paul Have Bad Eyesight? • He says that he suffered from a “physical infirmity” (Gal. 4:13) and from a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7). • He saysthat the Galatians would have given him their own eyes to help him had it been possible (Gal. 4:15). • His handwriting is recognizable because of the exceptionally large letters that he makes (Gal. 6:11). • He issaid to have been temporarily blinded (Acts 9:8), and when his sight is restored, “something like scales” fall from his eyes (Acts 9:18). • He fails to recognize the high priest when appearing before the Jewish council in Jerusalem (Acts 23:4–5). Such considerations have led to speculation: Did he have cataracts or some other eye problem? Was he partially blind

Mental “thorn” Depression Anxiety Stress of constant opposition Others believe it may have been the Judaizers who followed Paul and constantly harassed him and tried to make some of the converts adhere to the old Jewish laws and customs.

Spiritual “thorn” Pride – “boasting” Need for humility Persecution, opposition, criticism?

A person? Alexander the coppersmith, who did Paul “a great deal of harm” (2 Timothy 4:14). When we read the New Testament in a narrative way, taking it in its chronological sequence, we discover that everywhere Paul planted a church, a group of detractors opposed his ministry and sought to discredit his apostolic authority in the eyes of the Christians for which he cared. In Galatians, Paul indicates that this group of detractors was headed up by one man in particular. The group of people = But there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:7). As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! (Galatians 5:12). The one man that headed them up = But the one who is troubling you will bear his judgment, whoever he is (Galatians 5:10). At the end of the letter, Paul says something interesting: From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus. You can almost hear a prayer behind this statement in which Paul is asking the Lord to remove this person who is troubling him and the churches.

A blank cheque! Your personal problem !

Solution Prayed Saw thorn as a gift Saw as “messenger of Satan” Heard God’s word about grace Saw perspective of “weakness” (Narnia – “ a deeper truth”)

At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise—a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant's plate.... The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan. "Who's done it?" cried Susan. "What does it mean? Is it more magic?" "Yes!" said a great voice from behind their backs. "It is more magic." They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself. "Oh, Aslan!" cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad.... "But what does it all mean?" asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer. "It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."