Humility – 9

Humility – 9

Subject – Humility and Our Thorn in the Flesh

By Rick Welborne

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)
⁷  And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
⁸  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
⁹  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
¹⁰  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

--As you read this portion of Scripture it appears that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was given to him so he would not exalt himself because of the great revelations given to him.

--Like us, Paul’s first desire was to have the thorn removed. He asked the Lord three times to have it taken away from him. 

--The Lord’s answer to him was that the trial (the thorn) was a blessing (a gift). Through his weakness and the humiliation it brought, he could experience God’s amazing grace.

--Paul was entering into a new stage in his relationship to the trial, instead of trying just to endure it, he saw the good in it, and instead of asking for it to be taken away, he took pleasure in it.

--This blows our American Christian’s minds, he had learned that the place of humiliation is the place of greatest blessing, power, and of joy. Say what?

--Most Christians fear, flee, and seek deliverance from anything that would humble them. We have been taught to just confess it away. We pray to be kept from anything that would humble us.

--Sadly, we have not reached the level Paul had of seeing humility as a manifestation of the beauty of the Lamb of God. We see every trial as a burden instead of an opportunity for humility.

1. Nothing but the Presence of God.

--Can we ever hope to reach this stage in our lives where we view trials and tribulations as gifts from God? I believe we can! By the same way Paul did. Having a new revelation of Jesus.

--Nothing but the presence of God can reveal and banish self. Paul had to learn deep insight that the presence of Jesus banishes every desire to seek anything in ourselves. 

--As we learn to submit ourselves and even delight in those things which humble us, we are in a place to receive greater and fuller manifestations of the presence of God. 

Philippians 3:8-11 (NIV)
⁸  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
⁹  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
¹⁰  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
¹¹  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

--All of us may know Christian leaders with high positions and who, have an appearance of being very advanced in their walk with God but have not learned to embrace humility.

--In Paul’s situation, the temptation to exalt himself was close at hand. He had not fully learned what it meant to die to himself that Christ alone might live in him. To take pleasure in thorns.

--Our greatest holiness comes in our deepest humility. Can I boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me? Do I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses?

2. An Opportunity to Prove Jesus is Everything.

--Have we learned to take correction (just or unjust), reproof of a friend or an enemy, trouble, or difficulty as an opportunity for proving that Jesus is everything to us?

--There is truly no joy greater to be so free from self that whatever is said about us or done to us is swallowed up in the thought that Jesus is all and we are nothing.  

--We must trust Him who took care of Paul to take care of us. Paul needed discipline and instruction to understand this humility before Jesus was more important than his revelations. 

Hebrews 12:10-11 (NIV) ¹⁰  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
¹¹  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

--Through trials and failures and troubles, God seeks to bring us to the place where His grace is everything. His strength is made perfect in our weakness and His presence sustains us.

--God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness: His presence fills and satisfies our emptiness, and becomes the secret of our humility.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)                                                                                                                                        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.

Andrew Murray – The humble man has learned the secret of abiding joy. The weaker he feels, the lower he sinks, the greater his humiliations, the more the power and the presence of Christ is his portion. When he says, “I am nothing” the word of His Lord comes: “My grace is sufficient for you.”

3. The Danger of Pride.

--The danger of pride is greater and nearer than we think, and especially when we seem to be having the greatest success. 

--When the pastor is preaching it up, the convention speaker filling a conference hall because of their admiration of him, someone sharing a glorious testimony…danger! Proverbs:

Proverbs 11:2-3 (NLT2)
²  Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
³  Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people. 

Proverbs 16:18-19 (NKJV)
¹⁸  Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
¹⁹  Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud. 

Proverbs 29:23 (NKJV)
²³  A man's pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor. 

--Paul was in danger without even knowing it and what Jesus did for him and taught him was for our good. It teaches us the pitfalls we are headed for and how humility is our safety net.

--If it has ever been said of us, or of a teacher of the Word, or a preacher of the Gospel; he is so full of himself or he does not practice what he preaches, or his calling has not made him humbler…

--Let it be said no more. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and sweet Holy Spirit in whom we have placed out trust, can make us humble. Our job is to submit to life (the thorns) and bow low before Jesus.

Romans 8:28-31-32, 35, &37-39 (NLT2)
²⁸  And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
³¹  What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
³²  Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
³⁵  Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
³⁷  No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
³⁸  And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
³⁹  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

--God’s grace toward us for humility is greater and nearer than we think. Jesus’ humility was and is our salvation. He is our humility. His grace is sufficient for us against pride. 

2 Corinthians 12:9-9 (NKJV)
⁸  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
⁹  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

Murray – Jesus’ strength will be perfected in our weakness. Let us choose to be weak, to be low, to be nothing. Let humility be to us joy and gladness. Let us gladly glory and take pleasure in weakness, in all that will humble us and keep us low; the power of Christ will rest upon us. 

--Christ humbled Himself, therefore God exalted Him. 

Philippians 2:8-9 (NKJV)
⁸  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
⁹  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

--As Christ allows us to be humbled, let us wholeheartedly consent to His will and plan. We need to prayerfully trust and joyfully accept whatever humbles us so that the power of Christ will rest upon us. 

--We will find that the deepest humility is the secret to true happiness with God. It becomes a joy that nothing in this life can destroy.

--"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.