A THORN IN THE FLESH – PART NINE
Saturday – MAR 31, 2018
Welcome back to the ninth edition of our Bible Study of Paul’s thorn in the flesh. I suspect by now that all who are serious about Bible Study, and have actually been reading and meditating this teaching are now well aware of what the Apostle Paul is teaching us from his own experience. I have heard it said that the Apostle Paul did not identify the man who went to Heaven and back as himself to avoid boasting. Let’s think about this assertion for a moment. Sounds rather spiritual or religious on the surface don’t you think? Boasting about what God can do and about what He has done in our lives is not to be forbidden. Boasting about what we have done leaving God and His contribution, which is essential, out is taking the glory which belongs to God and a very serious matter. Let’s move into our primary text reading it aloud so it is in our eyes and in our ears not only physical but especially spiritual eyes and ears. We want this to build our faith, and our dedication to love.
2 Corinthians 12:6-10 (KJV)
6 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.
7 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.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
Once again let us review the proper order of things in the Kingdom of God in the earth.
- Underlying it all is the Covenant and the confirming Blood of Jesus.
- This Covenant is for our learning, an example of both the good and the bad, and an expression of the will of God (remember the seven mandates). If you are just joining the conversation and are saying to yourself, “what seven mandates?” I strongly suggest you go into the archives and start with part one of this teaching.
- Our journey starts with salvation followed by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. This is the Blessing, the Power of God, the Anointing which is essential to all things supernatural.
- Authority was given to man in this creation, lost due to sin, and restored by Christ Jesus to man in the Redemption. The crucial element now is that we be in Him to operate in this authority or dominion backed by the Power of God. Although Jesus got the authority back it is illegal for Him to exercise it for He is now God.
- With the setting aside of sin by the Lamb of God the Blessing could return for those in Christ Jesus. Man could once again be alive spiritually, indwelt with the Holy Spirit, and overflow with the Anointing and move in full authority with Power.
Last Saturday I presented the account of the storm, the fear of the disciples, Jesus calming the storm, and His rebuking them for having no faith. These guys hung around with Jesus and had seen things no other men had seen yet had little to no faith. Faith comes by hearing, and the ability to properly hear, spiritually hear comes from hearing the Word of God. So, we are seeing the intersection of the exercise of authority and faith. If one is not sure of the Word of God which is a lack of faith they can scream at the problem until the cows come home and zippo zero is the result. Exactly what we are seeing in Churches across America and around the world. We see a form of Godliness with no power. The lack of power can be attributed to several factors.
- The person(s) is not saved AND filled with the Holy Spirit.
- The person(s) have not built their faith in the Word of God.
- The person(s) are begging, asking, God to do it.
- The person(s) is not walking in love (Bible love).
- The person(s) are not looking to the Father for direction.
- The person(s) are not exercising their God given authority.
- The person(s) are not freely acknowledging that God does the works.
- The person(s) are not maintaining a sinless life. Remember, in the eyes of God, being sinless occurs one second after true repentance.
As we move forward let’s read the following Scripture passage aloud with great attention to every single word.
Luke 5:17-25 (KJV)
17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.
19 And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.
20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
Let’s consider the setting, Jesus is teaching, probably at His own home in Capernaum. As usual His critics were present and in fact were so numerous others could not get in to see or hear Jesus. We are told that “the power of the Lord was present to heal them” however there is no evidence that any of them were in fact healed. Now, there was a bedridden man who could not by himself get to Jesus so his friends were determined to bring him to Jesus for they knew that if they did he would be healed. In other words, they had faith, they had heard of Jesus, they had heard of His message and were convinced. They could not come into the house so they tore up the roof and brought the man to Jesus in that way. I would think that even the most skeptic among us could agree they had faith. James (James 2:18) spoke about people showing their faith without works and he said he would show his faith by his works. It is one thing to talk a good game, it is another to have a good game. We can all agree Jesus talked and had a good game. We are to be exactly the same!
Well, Jesus starts off in our passage above by throwing a massive monkey wrench into the thinking of the Pharisee’s and doctors of the law by forgiving the mans sins. Apparently, sin was standing in the way of this man’s healing. Also, notice that Jesus forgave this sin specifically referring to Himself as the son of man, this like all that He did in the earthly ministry was as a man. Jesus had no capacity in His ministry in the earth to operate independently as a Divine person. He was not here as God but as a man. We get another glimpse into this in the Book of James as well in the calling of the elders to pray for a sick person (James 5:14-15). I want to be clear for this is of paramount importance, it is vital that the sick person call for the elders, not that the elders hear they are sick and show up at the house. The same process is required for the forgiveness of sin as healing. Both require the hearing of the Word of God. Both require faith on the part of the person to be forgiven or healed. It is also essential that the person to receive healing believe that the person present with the Anointing can if fact bring healing into their life.
Next, Jesus says the following: I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. This is a command, the man believed Him, he got up, took up his bed, and went home completely healed. Anytime faith comes in contact with the Anointing healing/miracles will occur. Notice the Pharisees nor the doctors of the law were healed for the Anointing was present but they did not have faith. When we exercise authority, as Jesus did, the Power of God will flow, the Father does the works. Lord willing, I will pick up right here next Saturday.
Until our next publication, I speak blessing into your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
PARTNERSHIP AND GIVING – Those of you who are not Partners of this Ministry and you find this ministry to be of value to you and perhaps others with whom you share it, we ask you to consider becoming Partners. A Partner is one who prays for the Ministry on a regular basis and contributes to the Ministry on a regular basis (monthly, quarterly, annually). Thank you and may the Lord be pleased with your decision.
CONTACT E-MAIL: pastordavidwood@gmail.com
BLOG: https://awakeariseandtriumphministries.org
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/awakearisetriumphministries
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/PastorDavidWood
MAILING ADDRESS: 10 Village Green Circle, Oakland, Maine 04963
MY BOOKS: https://awakeariseandtriumphministries.org/shop/
