Someone has so aptly stated that
deception wouldn't be so deceiving if it wasn't so deceptive. Paul's thorn in
the flesh is a deceptive sacred cow, so to speak, that holds many in bondage.
Religious ideas about Paul's thorn have caused so many to suffer needlessly,
believing they were pleasing God. Several
years ago, I was in a certain church, having gone there to preach on Sunday
morning. I sat in on the pastor's Sunday school class. That was the wrong thing
to do, because then I didn't feel free to preach what I felt I should preach,
for it was going to plow his ground cross-ways. I learned that everything I had
to say was going to be contrary to what he taught. After hearing what he taught,
if I taught against it, I would have caused a lot of confusion. I didn't believe
it was wisdom to do that in his church. The
Sunday school lesson that day was on the chastening of the Lord. He said the
Lord sometimes chastens us with sickness.
I said to myself, "Self, you are going to behave and mind your own
business." But then he started talking
about Paul's thorn in the flesh. He said, "I've been to several Bible colleges,
and no professor has ever been able to tell me what Paul's thorn in the flesh
was, and no one knows." Well, I had
stood it about as long as I could, and I said, "Would you mind if we take what
the Bible says it is"? And of course, he agreed. So I turned to II Corinthians 12:7 and read it. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Deception
wouldn't be so deceiving if it wasn't so deceptive. But he already knew what the Scripture said;
he just didn't believe it because it was contrary to what he had been taught.
He had been indoctrinated and his mind had been blinded by religious ideas of
men.Subtle Deception
In II Corinthians Paul said: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ." (II Cor.11:3)
Notice that Paul didn't say, "I'm
afraid, the devil is so great, he's going to defeat us in life. But, I fear,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your
minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Jesus said it
this way: "You
make the Word of God of none effect by the tradition of men." (Matt.
15:6) Following the tradition of men will make the Word of God ineffective
in your life. In II Corinthians chapter
twelve, we find Paul's account of his revelation and the reason why the
messenger of Satan was assigned to him. And
I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell; God
knoweth).
How that he was caught up into
paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to
utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet
of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall
not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest
any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he
heareth of me.
And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a
thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be
exalted above measure. (II Cor.12:3-7) The reason Paul's thorn has stuck so
many people is because they have assumed that God gave it to him. It is that assumption
that has kept them from putting up any resistance to that which Satan has
assigned to them. I have heard that
Paul's thorn was everything from sore eyeballs to ingrown toenails. But Paul
identified it as the messenger of Satan to buffet him. It was not sickness, it was not sore
eyeballs, or ingrown toenails. And it certainly wasn't blindness, for he was
healed of that when Ananias laid hands on him in Acts 9:18. Paul identified the
thorn as the messenger of Satan. He was dispatched to stir up trouble
everywhere Paul preached. Some say, "We
will never know what Paul's thorn in the flesh was" as though it were hidden
from us. Others say, "I don't understand why God wouldn't heal Paul." But since Paul's thorn was not sickness or
disease, it wasn't a matter of God healing Paul. It was a matter of Paul acting
on the authority of God's Word to defeat the purpose of the messenger of Satan.
James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he
will flee from you." James
didn't say that the devil would flee from God. For it was not God's responsibility
to resist him. But the devil will flee from you who are here on earth. So if Paul didn't resist - by taking
authority over this messenger of Satan - then God wouldn't. Let us say it
another way, God couldn't if Paul didn't. Jesus couldn't do a thing about it,
if Paul didn't act on the authority of God's Word. The reason why many people don't understand
what Paul's thorn in the resist the devil and he will flee from you flesh was,
is that they believe God gave it to him. But, did you notice, that the Scripture
didn't say that God gave Paul the thorn in the flesh? It was an angel of the
devil who was dispatched to Paul.
Yet some Bible commentaries state
that God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh and it was some sort of sickness or
disease to keep Paul humble. And because of that mentality, they read the
Lord's answer to Paul, "My grace is
sufficient for thee," and they assume that Jesus said, "No Paul, I won't heal
you."
(II Cor. 12:9)
But that wasn't what He said at
all. Notice verse seven again, Lest I should be exalted above measure…there was
given to me a thorn in the flesh…(II Cor. 12:7) Some have thought that Paul had
too much pride because of the revelation. So God gave him a thorn in the flesh
to keep him humble. I don't believe you
can find in Scripture any evidence that God had anything to do with giving Paul
a thorn in the flesh. God does not give His minister a revelation of His Word
and then hinder him from preaching it. That would be totally out of The reason
Paul's thorn has stuck so many people is because they have assumed that God
gave it to him.
Character with God and His Word
The phrase, Lest I should be
exalted above measure, is referring to the fact, that if it had not been for
the messenger of Satan assigned against Paul to stir up trouble, everywhere he
preached, Paul would have been exalted to the point that he could have
influenced the known world with this revelation. But he was not able to preach it freely, for
Satan hindered him on every hand. Ask
yourself this question: Why would God give Paul a revelation of the new birth
and assign someone to cause trouble everywhere he went, so he couldn't preach
that revelation? The answer is obvious, God didn't do it but Satan did.
Trouble Started at Antioch
Evidently, this messenger of
Satan was assigned to Paul at Antioch. For
the Scripture says, the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26) That is significant, because
Paul spent one whole year at Antioch preaching the revelation. (v.26) Paul
taught this revelation with such effectiveness that the people began to call them Christians. No doubt,
Paul shared the revelation of how the rebirth of the human spirit had caused
them to become new creations that never existed before. I believe the preaching
of this revelation so exalted Paul's ministry in the eyes of people that he had
the potential of reaching the known world with the Gospel. For that reason
Satan assigned an angel of the devil, to buffet Paul and stop this revelation.
Paul had both revival and a riot
almost everywhere he preached. The riot was caused by the angel of the devil
sent to stop his message. Antioch is where the persecution started, evidently
it was because of the revelation Paul preached.
In John 11:47-48 when Jesus
had raised Lazarus from the dead, the Pharisees and the chief priests said, "What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him
alone, all men will believe on him.…"
In Jesus' ministry the Gospel was
growing to such measure, until they said everyone was turning to Him. I believe
this is what Paul is referring to in essence, Lest I should be exalted above
measure…there was given me a thorn in the flesh. He was saying, "I would have
been exalted above measure through this revelation even to the point that the
world would have received this gospel." You
may say, "Well, I don't know about this thorn in the flesh being an angel of
the devil."
The Bible says, …In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
(II Cor. 13:1) So, let's go to the eleventh chapter of II Corinthians. For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
(II Cor. 11:13-14)
One translation says, Satan
transforms himself into an angel of light.
This word "angel" is the very same Greek word that is translated
"messenger" in chapter 12, verse 7, where Paul says, "…there was given to me a
thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan…". So Paul is literally saying,
"There was assigned to me an angel of the devil to buffet me." The word "buffet" used here means to strike
with a clenched fist or an open hand. In other words, it was a
steady buffeting, to keep the revelation from being preached. It was not
sickness and disease." There was given
to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan…" So, if Paul said his thorn in the flesh was
an angel of the devil, who are we to say that he was wrong? It was his thorn
and he ought to have known what it was.
Religious Ideas Deceive
It is amazing that so many
religious people say Paul's thorn was something other than a messenger of Satan
when in the same verse that Paul mentioned it, he plainly stated what the thorn
was. It is also interesting that they believe it was God who gave Paul the
thorn. But even common sense would tell
you God did not send an angel of the devil to buffet Paul. God wanted him to
preach that revelation, but the devil wanted to keep him from obeying God. Paul's statement, the messenger of Satan to
buffet me in the Interlinear Greek-English New Testament states it this way,
that me he might buffet. A personal pronoun is used here in
the Greek text. That tells us it was not sickness.
For this
thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient
for thee: for my strength is My Grace is Sufficient for you made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest upon me. (II
Cor.12:8-9)
My Grace is sufficient for you. What does that mean? Jesus didn't say, "No,
Paul, I won't heal you," or, "No, Paul, it is not My will for you to be
delivered." The Lord said, "My grace is
sufficient for you". In other words, God's grace was sufficient to deliver him,
but Paul must act on God's Word and resist the devil. If Paul didn't resist
him, he wasn't going to flee. The messenger of Satan was not going to leave
unless Paul resisted him. It was not God's responsibility. It was Paul's responsibility to exercise his
God-given authority here on earth. Yet,
it was God's anointing that Paul must rely upon for effective deliverance.
Exercise Your Authority
Some of you reading this newsletter
need to exercise authority over the messenger of Satan that has been assigned
to cause you trouble. They cause problems in finances, in your physical body
and many other situations. Satan's goal is to keep you off balance physically,
financially and spiritually so you cannot fulfill your calling. God wants you free, but unless you exercise
your authority, nothing will change. The good news is that you have been
delivered from the authority of darkness and you are more than a conqueror
through Jesus Christ. Don't wait six months to act on your God-given authority.
Victory is available through acting on God's Word!
Charles Capps
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