0:14 I want to share with you this morning something that's spoken powerfully to my heart and and came with fresh light in revelation to me that I want to be gripped with the 0:33 truth of what is written here and what is written in these verses and what is there in scripture. The spirit the holy spirit is so 0:50 different from the spirit of the world. the world they want to be strong and be powerful but the life that Jesus has called us to 1:05 live is a life where we go down the very opposite the life where we become weak so that God's power can be manifested in us and through us 1:23 and that's what God has done through the century. Don't look around at the Christianity that you see today, but look at the Christianity that we see in the Bible. The life that God has called us to live on this earth. That's 1:41 where we should always be looking. It'll never disturb us how it goes in the Christian world. It's getting worse and worse. Doesn't disturb us. We are concerned when we see false prophets arise. But if we have our eyes fixed on Jesus, 2:00 if we have our eyes fixed on those who are examples in our midst and God has given us good examples, true servants of God, then I believe we'll be challenged and encouraged to live the life that God has called us to live. And that's spoken 2:15 very powerfully to me. And I I want to share this with you. And I pray that God will open our eyes this morning. I pray that God will give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the true knowledge of him. I want to come to this life. 2:39 AB Simpson calls it, you know, the finding more and more in life and reality the divine all sufficiency or to put it more plainly the all sufficiency of the true grace of God 2:59 which eventually listen to this leads us to come to an end of everything in ourselves and in our circumstances. If we see this and be gripped with it, we can experience. And I'm referring to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 3:18 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Paul was gripped with this life. He lived this life. God had laid hold of him. And Paul had laid hold of eternal life. And he called young Timothy to lay hold of eternal life that he was called to. 3:34 And Paul says then verse 7, he spoke of the surpassing greatness of the revelations that he had received from God. And for this reason to keep him from exalting himself. He says, "There was given me a 3:52 thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself." Keep that in mind, my brothers and sisters, that everything that God allows in your life and mine. If if we are really gripped with this 4:10 life and we want to love God with all of our heart, we want to live for him, glorify him, we're not seeking anything of our own, God is so interested in us that he will do everything to keep us from exalting ourselves. And he says, 4:25 "Concerning this, I implored the Lord three times that I might that it might leave me." And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I'll rather boast about my 4:43 weaknesses." Today, people boast about their strengths and their achievements. But Paul says, "Most gladly I will boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I'm well content with weaknesses." 5:03 AB Simpson writing about this and I so blessed. He says here the literal the literal translation of this verse 2 Corinthians 12 and what we just read there 9 and 10. The literal translation it says gives us 5:20 a a startling emphasis to it makes it speak for itself with a force that we have never realized. I hope you will see something of that this morning. This is a literal translation of 2 Corinthians 12:10. He says, 5:39 "Therefore, I take pleasure in being without strength, in insults, in being pinched, in being chased about, in being cooped up in a corner for Christ's sake. For when I am without strength, then am 5:57 I dynamite." That's the word. Dunamis. I don't know Greek. I'm not a Greek scholar. But I understand wherever we read about the power of God. It's dunamis. Dynamite. You know what dynamite does? 6:15 It can blast everything that comes in the way of us following Christ. And the only way that I can experience that is when I'm without strength. that's spoken powerfully to my heart and God will do everything to bring me to 6:34 that place where I am without strength. Then am I dynamite? That's God's way. The way of the world is different. The way of world is that you become strong and then you get power. The life that God calls you and us to 6:53 live on this earth is that we become weak and experience not just power but dynamite and that we can fulfill God's purpose for our lives on this earth. And he says, listen to this. 7:10 AB Simpson says, "Here is the secret of divine all sufficiency to come to the end of everything in ourselves and in our circumstances. And when we reach this place, we stop looking for sympathy. 7:29 We stop looking for people to feel sorry for us because of our hard situation because of our the treatment we are getting. We'll never look for it. We stop putting ourselves when we come into this life when we see the secret of this 7:45 life. Paul found and lived this secret. The secret of an allsufficient all powerful grace of God. That's what Jesus said to him. No, I'm not going to remove it. He prayed three times like Jesus prayed in the garden of 8:03 Gethsemane. Father, let this cup pass from me. But he said, nevertheless, not my will, your will be done. And Paul prayed prayed three times. Lord, take away it. It troubled him. It was a messenger of Satan. The Holy Spirit says, 8:20 we don't know what it is. Probably it was something physical. We have heard. Probably it had something to do with his eyes. And because he says to the Galatian church, he says, "You would have gladly plucked out your eyes and given it to 8:34 me." He must have had some some ailment in the eyes that even looking at him will make you feel awkward and embarrassed. And Paul asks God, "Take it away." And the Lord says, "No, I'm with you. That's 8:50 all you need. My power shows up best in weak people." We have heard this in this church through the years. How much have we been gripped, my brothers and sisters. My power shows up best in weak people. That's a living Bible translation of 9:09 that verse. So, I'm glad to boast about how weak I am. I'm glad to be a living demonstration of Christ's power. I'm reading from the Living Bible instead of showing off my own power and abilities. Since I know it is all for Christ's 9:27 good, I'm quite happy about the thorn and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong dynamite. May God open our eyes to see that. My 9:45 brothers and sisters, our whole attitude will change to trials and difficulties and temptations and whatever else we may face in this life. Our whole attitude will change. It's begun to change my attitude. And I thank God for gripping 10:02 me with this to be well content to be weak and not try to be strong and not want to be strong so that I can experience power dynamite. George Mat, 10:18 the well-known Scottish blind preacher in his day once said, listen to this, it spoke to my heart. He said, "My God, I never thanked thee for my thorn. I have thanked thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. 10:37 I've been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross. But I have never thought of the cross itself as a present glory. Teach me the glory of my cross. Teach me the 10:54 value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbows. He was a blind preacher. George Madison. There's more to his life. He lived in 11:14 the 1800s and died in 1906. At when he was 20 when he was engaged to be married, he was going blind. He was born with a ailment 11:33 and he had to wear thick glasses. By the time he was 15, his his u sight was failing. And when he was 20, he went blind. and he was engaged to a 11:51 girl and when he broke the news to his fiance she decided she could not go through life with a blind husband. She left him and then his sister offered to take care of him and for many years she did that and meanwhile he gave himself 12:09 to preaching God's word to shephering God's flock. He spoke used to speak to,500 people a week and he was popularly known as the blind preacher. Some years passed and his sister fell in love 12:28 and she wanted to get married. So he let her go and he was left alone. And when the parents and the whole family went the previous day to make arrangements for the wedding, he was left alone 12:47 and he was so lonely. But he cast himself upon the one who loved him and who said to him, "I will never never leave you nor forsake you." And that was his comfort. And in those moments, in five minutes, 13:04 he wrote a song, a lovely song which I have sung to myself many times through the years. And it brings tears to my eyes each time I've sung it. It's my favorite song. I've sung it to my like I said sometimes while driving, sometimes at home. You 13:23 know that song. I'm afraid people who like fast music don't like it because it has a slow tune. But I don't worry about the tune. Oh love that will not let me go. He wrote that song. The words go, "Oh love that will not let 13:42 me go. I rest my weary soul in thee. I give thee back the life I owe. that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer fuller be. And the second verse goes, "Oh light 13:59 that followest all my way. I yield my flickering torch to thee. My heart restores its borrowed ray." You know the light that he had got in his heart, even though he was blind, it was borrowed. That's what he recognized. 14:19 That in thine sunshine's blaze its day may brighter pharaoh be. That's the author of that song. George Madison who was blind and he died blind. And he found comfort in that. He that 14:36 like I said he realized that not once not one day did he thank God for his thorn. He thank God for the roses. And that's how it is. We thank God for the roses. We never thank God for the thorn. It can be different for many of us. And 14:54 God allows a thorn sometimes to keep us humble. I know he's done that for me to keep me humble. Keep me from exalting myself. Maybe something physical, maybe something to do with our health. It may be some problem. Maybe something in the home, in 15:14 relationships, maybe something to do with our children. I have a difficult child, not really difficult. They're just going through a phase, going through a stage. But if I see it as my thorn to keep me humble and not complain and not think 15:31 God is angry with me, God is punishing me, why is he allowing this to me? Something may happen. We may lose our job. We may come to a situation where like George Madison, we are cast, we are cast upon no one. No one can help us. No 15:49 one we feel no one understands. But there's one who stands with us who says I'll never never leave you nor forsake you. And that's our savior. But I want to say my brothers and sisters, we cannot experience this power. That's the second 16:05 thing I want you to see. without being willing to become weak. None of us like to become weak. We want to be strong. We want to be assertive. We want to be accepted. We want to be commended. We want to be praised. We want to be thanked. 16:23 How many of us want are willing to be content? Like Paul says, I'm content with weaknesses. If I have something to boast about, he says, I'll boast about my weaknesses, not about my achievements and abilities. How opposite isn't it to 16:36 the world and the spirit of the world the spirit of the times we live in we want to boast about our achievements our abilities we take pride in it how about this to boast about our weaknesses to give thanks to God for the thorn 16:49 whatever it is maybe a very little thing but it's it troubles you and to see that God loves me he wants to keep me humble so that he can be on my sides so I can experience dynamite in my life because if I get strong, God 17:07 becomes my enemy. God is against the proud. And so he does everything to make us weak. That's what he did with Jesus. And that's what we read about Jesus. You look at the next chapter, 2 Corinthians chapter 13. A very blessed word. I look at it many, 17:26 many times. And not just look at it. I seek to do what it tells me to do. There it says there. First of all, 2 Corinthians 13:4, for indeed he was crucified because of weakness. He was crucified because of weakness. 17:44 Jesus could not be crucified if he didn't become weak. He opened his palms and let them drive the nails in. He didn't like the other two who were being crucified along with him. didn't resist and curse and you know feel sorry for 18:03 themselves. He thought of others father forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. He yielded because all through his 33 years he had become weak. He let the father make him weak. Isaiah 53 Isaiah saw something of the glory of 18:18 Jesus. And I pray to God and I'm praying Lord I want to see more of that glory. He became weak. God made him sick so that he would pour out his soul to death. And that's why God allows situations and circumstances in your 18:35 life and mine that we would learn to pour out our soul to death. It's our soul that wants to be strong and assertive and you know be accepted, be thanked and praised. And if I learn to pour out my soul to death and be like 18:52 Jesus become be willing to be made weak that you know I can pray. It says in in Philippians 2 I think it is says God works in us both to work and to will his good pleasure. And we had a little 19:10 placard that brother Bart told me passed around many years ago. I have on my desk. God, make me willing to be willing. Make me willing to be willing. And that's an honest prayer. Not say I'm willing, but make me willing to be 19:26 willing. And so we see here that Jesus was crucified because of weakness. He could not be crucified if he did not become weak. Yet he lives. The rest of that verse says because of the power of God. And look at the rest of that verse. For 19:43 we also are weak in him. If we are in Jesus, we will become weak, not strong in ourselves. Yet we live with him because of the power of God directed towards you. That is God's will for your 19:59 life and mine that I become weak so that I can give up my will. I can never give up my will. If I have never become weak, I would still want to have my own way and do my own will. That's why Jesus said, "Come to me. Come to me all all of 20:18 you who exhaust yourselves. Come to me." He says, "And learn from me the unforced rhythms of grace." It's a message Bible paraphrases that learn from me the unforced rhythms of grace. See how I do it and you'll find rest for 20:36 your souls. That is God's will for every last one of us here, my brothers and sisters. Learn from me. Jesus said, "Learn from me." Not, you don't have to look around, but learn from me humility and meekness, and you'll find 21:00 rest for your soul. And so God has to bring us to this place. God has to break us to make us weak. There's no other way. I know he's had to do that with me. To break us, to make us weak through circumstances, 21:19 through people, through humble submission to authority, you know, that's where we can become weak. I encourage young people be under authority. Be a man under authority. And I can say before God, I've learned that in 42 years I've sought and never wanted 21:39 to go come out of that place. Many times I've been tempted to come out of that place. Hager ran away because of a mistress who illreated her and she was there left alone. She was 21:58 not alone. She had a bottle of waters exhausted. There was this child Ishmael. And God said to her, "Hi, God. What are you doing here? What are you doing here? And if we run away, I hope we'll hear that. What are you doing here? Go back 22:15 and submit to your mistress." Have we heard that my brothers and sisters? When we want to run out or we have tired of being under authority, I want to do my own thing. I want to have my own ministry. That's what people are 22:28 thinking of ministry. They want to run away. I know I've been tempted many times. But I always said, Lord, I want to be a man under authority. I want to learn to submit. It's from when we submit that we are broken. 22:46 People who submit, whether it's a wife to a husband to a demanding husband, when she submits, she will experience power. There's a power in submission. The devil would like to hide it from our eyes and make submission, you know, very survile 23:01 thing. Being a yes man and yes sir, no sir. I'm not that. There is a power in submission. There's a beauty. There's a glory in submission. My brothers and sister, I want to say to you young brothers and sisters, learn it. You'll experience dynamite in your 23:19 life because it's the only way that God can make you weak. It's the only way that God can make us weak when we we submit. And the other thing is when there is a breaking in self- acknowledgement to acknowledge I may be wrong 23:39 to acknowledge I can be wrong to acknowledge and humble myself when I'm proved wrong that's very difficult isn't it we all think we are right we are experts 23:57 we know what to we know how to handle this situation and I'm an expert in this field. Nobody can really teach me. I'm the one. I'm the boss. No, my brothers and sisters, that's the way of the world. And I thank God for opening my eyes to see this way to go 24:15 down. There's a glory in becoming weak. There's a power that is released in us when we become weak. Cuz when I'm weak, I'm dynamite. Like we read in the literal trans translation of verse, it's the power of God that we can experience 24:33 as a passing power of God to us who believe. This the only way that I can give up my own will when I become weak like Jesus. You look at the life of Jesus and I have taken it on myself to just look at the life of 24:52 Jesus. See there are many many situations where he became weak. He yielded up his will to the father. Not just in Gethsemane. It all started before that. It started in his childhood when we have heard in this church when 25:07 he had to submit to imperfect parents. That's where it begins. God doesn't give us perfect people to submit to. He gives us imperfect people. He gives us imperfect elders to submit to. imperfect elders that we may even see 25:23 their imperfections but then I submit because that's where God has put me and if I learn that then I'll experience the power of God in my life I'll experience dynamite that in every situation whatever mountain whatever hill whatever roadblock the 25:42 devil puts in my way it'll be blasted not because of my strength because I become weak And when I'm weak, I'm strong like the Holy Spirit says. Therefore, reading on there in 2 Corinthians 13. 26:03 Is that all? Is that something that we have to admire? And is that a pep talk that I I need? No. This is what I say I've taken seriously. I've shared this with many many of you through the years. It says in verse four, indeed he was 26:21 crucified because of weakness. Yet he lives because of the power of God and we also are weak in him. Listen to it carefully. Read carefully. Yet we will live with him because of the power of God directed toward you. We 26:41 also are weak in him. Not I glory in the fact I asked Jesus to come into my heart. No, because the next verse tells me test yourselves to see if you're in the faith. 26:59 Examine yourselves or do you not recognize this about yourself that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you fail the test? And Paul says, I trust that you will realize we ourselves do not fail the test. 27:16 Because we saw that when God said to him, "My power shows up best in weak people." Paul, I'll not remove that thorn. You'll experience my power. What do you want for me to take away the thorn? Oh, to experience my 27:35 power. And you know what Paul chose? What do we choose, my brothers and sisters? And we pray and ask God, what do I want? God remove that thorn that's creating trouble and I think that's hindering me or to experience God's power. I know what I want. 27:54 And so there's there's no other way here. Test yourself. The Holy Spirit says to see if you're in the faith. See whether Jesus says examine yourselves. Do you not recognize this about yourself that Jesus Christ is in you? This Jesus 28:11 who makes us weak so that we can be strong. Test yourselves. Examine. He says recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ in you. Unless indeed you fail the test. And if I fail the test, let me do something. We make our children. If they 28:27 fail the test, do it again. You fail the examination, do it again. You have to repeat the class, do it again. So we're willing to do that. Repeat the class. Okay. I want to experience God's power. I want to make sure that Jesus Christ is 28:41 in me. Not that I think that 50 years ago I gave my heart to Jesus. No, today is Jesus in me. I want to ask you my brothers and sisters, is Jesus in you? This Jesus where you can experience dynamite where you allowing him to make you weak 28:59 through circumstances and situations. If we do what the Holy Spirit tells us to do every day and particularly when we are tempted particularly in situation test yourself examine yourself to see whether Jesus Christ is in you and if 29:16 you fail the test do something about it. Finally, the last verse of that beautiful song that I the words I the first two verses that I read out to you. I wish sometimes that we can really sing 29:35 it even though it has a long uh u a slow tune. The last p verse of that song gives us a true picture of the cross. This is what lifts me up every time that we should never be afraid of taking up. People are afraid when you talk about taking up the 29:53 cross. When you speak about the cross, people think very negatively about the cross. It's not what brother Charles said recently. It's not what some who think very spiritual Lord send me trials, send me difficulties, send me suffering. 30:13 We heard that from him. Where do we see Jesus praying such a prayer? Sounds very spiritual, isn't it? But when the Lord really sends us difficulties and suffering, it's a different story then. But people pray, Lord, send me difficulties. I've heard 30:30 brothers pray that send me suffering. God knows when to send it. We don't have to ask him. Jesus or the apostles never prayed such a prayer. And I want you to see that how you know how contrary things are what we have heard in the 30:47 Christian world and what we hear you know we imagine that's the way to become godly and spiritual. Jesus taught us to pray father lead us not into temptation deliver us from the power of the evil one. Did he say lord send us suffering? 31:01 He taught us to pray father don't lead me into temptation deliver me from the power of the evil one. And he said, "When they persecute you in one city, run to the other. Flee to the other." And he said, "Pray that you may 31:18 have strength to escape all these things." You spoke of the last times. Pray that you may have strength to escape all these things. You see how different it is. So it's good to read the Bible carefully. It's good to look at the real 31:35 Jesus. And we see that many times he was he was uh about to be lynched. Many times they want to push him over the cliff. They wanted to stone him to death. But he was unperturbed. He didn't stay there. He escaped once. They didn't know that he escaped through 31:54 their hands. God blinded their eyes. I like that. We're not to be aesthetics. Lord, send me suffering. Send me difficulties. Pray that you may have strength to escape all these things, Jesus said. And 32:11 when the time came, when the ar when the hour came, he said, you know, my hour has not yet come. But when the hour did come, he said, "This is your hour and the power of darkness." He recognized it and he boldly gave himself up and he asked them, he said, 32:30 "Who are you looking for?" And they said, "Jesus Nazarene." He said, "It's me. Here I am. take me, leave these others, let them go. That's how it is that when the time comes, when our outcome comes, the power of darkness, we give ourselves up. 32:47 But otherwise, we pray that we may have strength. We pray that we are not led into temptation, that we don't deny the Lord, that we don't betray him. So the cross lifts us up. That's what I want you to see. It doesn't put us down 33:03 in gloom and depression. It says Jesus for the joy set before him endured. We heard that from Razak. He endured not enjoyed the cross. For the joy that was set before him. What was that joy? To be restored to fellowship 33:17 with the father which he enjoyed for all eternity to get back after suffering hell on that cross after being separated from the father. The price he paid was not the physical suffering. We have heard that if you attending this church 33:30 here that's the message. Not the physical suffering. Not the pains, not the nails, not the thorns, not all that you know um all the all that's portrayed and depicted about the physical suffering of Jesus. But nobody can look into the 33:48 heart of Jesus see what really caused him suffering that he was going to the fellowship with the father that he enjoyed was going to be broken. That was hell. That means where there is no God. That's what he suffered for us. And the joy 34:07 that that was going to be restored, that's what he looked for. So he endured the cross. And that's how it must be with us. We endure the cross despising the shame. So the last verse of that song says, "Oh cross that liftest up my 34:24 head." I like that. It makes me weep. or cross that liftest up my head doesn't put me down. I dare not ask to fly from thee. I lay in dust life's glory dead and from the ground 34:43 their blossoms red life that shall endless be. Amen.
