2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Comments by Stephen Ricker
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My Grace is Sufficient For You
Comments for Study 9

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Memory Verse: 10
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I. Paul's Vision (12:1-6)

>1. About what had Paul been boasting in the previous chapter?

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>How did he regard talk about visions and revelations from the Lord? (1)

* 2 Corinthians 12:1 "I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

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>2. What does it mean to be "a man in Christ"? (2a)

* 2 Corinthians 12:2a "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago..."

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>Describe the spiritual experience which a certain "man in Christ" had. (2b-4)

* 2 Corinthians 12:2b-4 "... was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows. And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows-- was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell."

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>Why might this have happened to this man?

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>3. Did Paul boast about his spiritual strength? (5)

* 2 Corinthians 12:5 "I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses."

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>Why would he not have been a fool even if he had boasted? (6)

* 2 Corinthians 12:6 "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."

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>4. Why did he not try to gain special recognition from talking about his spiritual experiences?

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>What did he talk about?

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>Why?

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II. Paul's Thorn (12:7-9a)

>5. What had happened to him to counterbalance the great spiritual revelations which he had received? (7)

* 2 Corinthians 12:7 "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."

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* "messenger of Satan"

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>Why did he believe that this problem had been given to him?

* God protected Paul from the pit of conceit (7). Conceit is a word not in much use these days probably because conceit, vanity, and pride are considered at best normal and at worse good mindsets. However, conceit ignores some blatant truths about the human condition, that is my state of being. When self truths are not accepted, I miss out on God performing character improvements and gaining peace of mind and heart.

Conceit, vanity, and pride ignore God's providence. I do not live in a self-fulfilling vacuum. I do not have the capability to control everything all at once all the time. In fact, I can control little. I can make decisions. Yet, my decisions do not make what I decide to happen. Many unforeseen things always happen that counter what I decided to do. A wise person can admit, "I spent most of my life planning for things that did not happen the way I planned." Foolishness is to believe that all the good and great things I do and say are by my design and total control. They happen because God wills them to happen.

Then there are the bad decisions that I make. The misspoke word, the promise I made and did not keep, the good thing I could have and should have done and did not, and then there is the wrong thing I chose to do and did not stop. Conceit ignores these and robs me of allowing God to create a godly character in me and thus gain contentment and rest.

Paul had experienced and done a lot of amazing things. He is the man who went to the third heaven (1-5). God performed miracles through him. He would have become conceited if God did not give him a thorn in his flesh, a small messenger of Satan, to torment him (7).  Paul wanted it to stop. He could not make it stop. He asked God to stop it. He did not. God revealed why the pain stayed.  It kept him from becoming conceited.

I too have asked God to do things that were not answered in the way I asked and wanted. Perhaps they too are to keep me from being conceited and proud. God's NO can be good even though it means I will endure some pain.

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>6. What might be the problem that he describes as a thorn in his flesh?

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>Why does he call it a "messenger from Satan"?

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>What did he do about it?

* 2 Corinthians 12:8 "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me."

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>7. How did the Lord answer his prayer? (9a)

* 2 Corinthians 12:9a "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

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>Why did God answer him this way?

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>What does this teach us about prayer?

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>About God?

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>8. What is God's grace?

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>What does God mean by saying that his grace is sufficient? (1 Tim. 1:15; and 1 Co. 15:10)

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III. God's Grace (12:9-10)

>9. What does it mean that God's power is made perfect in weakness?

* 2 Corinthians 12:9b "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

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>What did Paul consider his weaknesses?

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>How could he delight in and actually thank God for not only his weaknesses but also his suffering?

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>10. What did Paul mean by "When I am weak, then I am strong"?

* 2 Corinthians 12:10 "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."

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>How can God's grace make a person strong?

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>How can grace change one's attitude toward suffering?

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