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I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. ¹² The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. ¹³ For in what were you less favoured than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong! ESVUK

If Paul was ‘credentialled’ by his sufferings, he was also marked out as a genuine apostle by all the miracles God did through him. But it is worth noting that signs and wonders are not a quick-fire route to ‘success’ (whatever that may look like in a given situation). All ministry requires ”utmost patience”. Growth takes time; and as we are about to see, it is a form of parenthood (14).

 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ESVUK

These verses bring us to the essence, the heartbeat of Paul’s theme in 2 Corinthians, and they also show the essential difference between Paul and those ”super-apostles” (11:5) who thought so highly of themselves and who were undermining him. Paul walked the way of the Cross. He did have a powerful ministry, in spite of any aspersions they cast upon him. But he experienced Easter Sunday power via Good Friday weakness.

Sometimes we pray earnestly for the removal of some difficulty, but God does not remove it because He knows better than us what is good for us (and also what will be good for others through us).

‘God gives us an answer to all our prayers, but He may not give us the answer we hoped for. His answer will be better for us than what we had hoped for. God answers our prayers not in the way we ask, but in a way that will lead to our greatest good. And He knows far better than we do how to achieve our greatest good. God always gives His children good gifts (Matthew 7:9-11). For Paul, that thorn was a ”good gift.” Tom Hale

Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. ⁷ So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ESVUK

It is a fact that God wants humble people in His service. It is also an irony that when he blesses someone with a profound spiritual experience, they are in danger of becoming ”conceited”, and there is also the possibility of others placing them on a pedestal – thinking of them more highly than they ought.

Jesus taught: ”For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt,23:12; Lk.14:11). There’s a lot at stake here.

No one knows exactly what Paul’s ”thorn…in the flesh” was. Some believe it may have been the same malady to which he refers in Gal.4:13,14. But the truth is, we don’t know, and God must have a purpose in our not knowing. ‘Thorns’ come in different shapes and sizes. Anything the Lord uses to make us feel our weakness and be dependent on Him is for our good.

Although Paul also refers to his thorn as ”a messenger of Satan”, it is important to remember, as Martin Luther said, that the devil is always ‘God’s devil.’ He is on a chain, and although it may appear to be a long chain, He is under God’s control. He cannot touch us without God’s permission, and what God permits He uses for our good and His glory.

 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. ³ And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— ⁴ and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. ⁵ On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. ⁶ Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 

Although Paul speaks rather obliquely, and humbly about ”a man”, it is obvious from verse 7 that he is speaking about himself.

Tom Hale explains that: ‘The third heaven is a Jewish expression, which means a place where God is present. According to Jewish belief in Paul’s time, the ”first heaven” was the sky and the ”second heaven” was the universe. According to that belief, then, the ”third heaven” signifies the spiritual heaven where Christ sits on the right hand of God (see Acts 1:10-11; Ephesians 1:20), and where believers in Christ will live forever.’

He also points out that ”paradise” and ”the third heaven” may be just two descriptions of the same place.

Certainly we can affirm that Christianity is a supernatural faith, and we should always be open to the possibility of God showing us things that we cannot explain. This was a remarkable experience for Paul. I don’t believe it is one we should seek as such. We definitely can’t manufacture it. We are not in control. But as we continue to seek the Lord Himself (and his gifts: 1 Cor.12-14) who can say where this adventure may take us?

 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for ever, knows that I am not lying. ³² At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, ³³ but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. ESVUK

Verse 30 is important for what is to come next, in chapter 12. This human ”weakness” was at the heart of Paul’s ministry, and he knew it was key to the release of God’s power. It was a weakness he was conscious of from the beginning of his Christian life. He had been such a strong man, on the war path in his opposition to the church. But on the road to Damascus the Lord blinded him, so that he could see, and he had to be led ”by the hand” into the city. He was dependent on a Christian man to come and pray for him in order to get his sight back. He had set off for Damascus as a proud Jew searching out Christians, but he left that place as a humble believer hiding in a basket.

From the beginning, he knew that weakness was going to be the way forward.

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. ²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labours, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. ²⁴ Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. ²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

I suppose we can say Paul is showing his ‘credentials’ here. How different genuine leadership is from flashy showmanship. It has nothing to do with ‘Rolex’s’ and private jets and the like.

This is what authentic Christian leadership looks like. For sure, not every church leader will suffer as Paul did. His sufferings were extraordinary. But we must be prepared to ‘carry the cross’ – whatever this may look like in our context. It is the only way that resurrection life and power can flow through us.

It is overwhelming to consider what Paul faced and came through. I think that all of us who have known the ”pressure” of care for one church (at a time) will marvel even more when we read verse 28.

I am taken back to the Lord’s Words to Ananias just after Saul’s (Paul’s) conversion:

”This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” Acts 9:15,16.

Once more, let me advise you not to look upon me as a fool. Yet if you do, then listen to what this “fool” has to boast about.

I am not now speaking as the Lord commands me but as a fool who must be “in on” this business of boasting. Since all the others are so proud of themselves, let me do a little boasting as well. From your heights of superior wisdom I am sure you can smile tolerantly on a fool. Oh, you’re tolerant all right! You don’t mind, do you, if a man takes away your liberty, spends your money, makes a fool of you or even smacks your face? I am almost ashamed to say that I never did brave strong things like that to you. Yet in whatever particular they enjoy such confidence I (speaking as a fool, remember) have just as much confidence.

The last four chapters of 2 Corinthians have a different feel to the rest of the letter, and they are not always easy to understand. But it’s important to remember that one of Satan’s chief tactics is to attack and oppose the message of the gospel by slandering the messengers. In this letter Paul feels that he has to defend himself against his critics, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the gospel. This is not about self-interest. But where his ministry and motives are impugned, he feels he must give an answer. As we’ve already seen, Paul’s boasting, unlike that of the windbag false apostles, is counter-cultural. It’s a boasting about what the Lord has done through him, and through his weakness – and everything he says is true. He certainly never exploited them as the false teachers did, but it seems the Corinthians didn’t see it that way.

And I’m not changing my position on this. I’d die before taking your money. I’m giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing “preachers,” vaunting themselves as something special. They’re a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ’s agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn’t surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they’re not getting by with anything. They’ll pay for it in the end. The Message

When you lay a trap to catch a rodent, you will probably put something tasty in there alongside the poison: something that will appeal to them like chocolate spread (or peanut butter).

We would not be deceived if there were not something attractive, appealing – in some way or other and for some reason or other – in the deception. We are drawn to what we perceive to be beauty. We like the taste of ‘chocolate spread’. We do need God-given eyes to be able to see through ‘charismatic’, maybe also good-looking preachers, who are exciting in their presentational styles, but who are peddling lies. As David Pawson observed, it is not about the manner of their preaching, but its matter. What are they actually saying? Is it Biblical? Is it true? We cannot over-emphasise the need to test all things by Scripture. Let’s be Bereans!

”Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11

Watch out for that chocolate spread.