Rightly Dividing The Word - Part 3 - Pauls Thorn

Hello, this is Mike Kennedy with the Living in Victory Broadcast. If you would join your faith with me, I value it. I desire it, I request it, your prayers, that as I read the Word, as I teach the Word, as I share the goodness of God, I do it properly, rightly dividing the Word, expressing it in a way that people can understand and receive from it. Amen? It's critical for you to join your faith with me so that we properly evaluate the Word. Amen? Heavenly Father, we come to you. I ask you for help. Your grace, your anointing, that I speak your oracles, your Word precisely, rightly dividing them, not manipulating your Word, not adding to it, not taking away from it, but properly, expressing your Word, with examples, with parables, just as Jesus shared with parables. Give me examples of how to express it, Father. Father, I ask you to help each and every person listening to receive according to your Word. Not from me, but I'm a vessel. Ask you to use me to help them to grow, to prosper, to increase in your Word, to grow in spiritual stature, in the name of Jesus, amen. Well, this is part three of a series titled, "Rightly Dividing the Word." You know, if you can rightly divide the Word, that means you can divide it incorrectly, or wrong. I desire to rightly divide the Word, amen? It's vital to know the truth of God because there's a direct correlation between understanding Scripture, being a doer of the Scripture, and experiencing victory over everything that the enemy tries to bring against us, to experience victory in our lives, amen? If we believe the wrong thing, we're going to live the wrong way. Darkness exists and lies, half-truth, confusion, strife. That's why we want to rightly divide the Word, amen? Rural deviations are errors of the Word can be deadly, spiritually, and physically. This is where a lot of traditions have come in that did not rightly divide the Word.

They started off properly, but over time, the enemy is so subtle that these deviations have come in. You'd hear of different groups, different movements, different examples of groups in the Word, whether it be denominations, groups like the faith movement. No, it's not a movement. It's the Word of God. We want to rightly divide it, amen? The Scripture that we're based in this series on is Mark 713 and 2 Timothy 2, 15. Mark 713 says, "Making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition." Did you know that traditions, things that we have not rightly divided the Word upon, take the power of God away? What that means is it removes it from operating in our lives. No, it doesn't take God's power out of the earth or remove it from God. What it does, it takes that power working in your life and takes it away from operating in your life that you may live in victory. Meaning the Word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have handed down and many such things you do. So these traditions, grandmother taught it. Well, where did she hear it? She heard it from a friend or her grandmother or a pastor, a preacher. They may have started off with good intent, but we want to go back to the Word and know exactly what it says, not man's ideas that have crept into the church, but understanding exactly what God said, the way He said it, what He meant that we can live in peace, joy, victory with protection, prosperity, health, amen. Many of these traditions are actually due to ignorance or due to ignoring what the Bible says. Yeah, I know that's what it says, but it's based on my experience. No, we got to go back to the word and ask where it is written. As I've done this and over time of learning more about the word, I have discovered numerous times that things that I grew up believing were not even scriptural. They were not in the word of God. Amen.

Or they, they were in there. I read them. I could quote it, but I did not have a good understanding of what it meant. That meant that there was no effect or no power, hence no results in my life for those scriptures. Second Timothy 2 15, be diligent to present yourself, approve to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Rightly divide means to cut straight. You do this in light of other scriptures in, in light of the whole context, not just a piece of a scripture, a lot of people who actually have the intent to manipulate, take a piece of a piece of a scripture to manipulate you, twist it to get their way. No, God's not in that. As I said, if you can rightly divide the word, you can divide it incorrectly or divide it wrong. And that takes the power from operating in our lives. There's three things to ask when you read a scripture. Who said it? Who did they say it to? What is the context? What are they speaking about? Amen. Everything in the Bible was said, but not all of it is truth. And not all of it is God speaking. Some of the examples we're going to get into regarding things that were said in Job, things that were said by some of the disciples. Jesus did not say it. So we're going to find out what some of those are. Some of them had been, they were under the law and they're trying to hold us down to it today. There's nothing wrong with the law. The law was perfect is perfect. The problem is man in our sin, our desires. The law was good and still is good. Hey man. It was the previous covenant. Now we've got the covenant with Jesus, where he bought and paid for our sins. Hallelujah. Well, Matthew 13, 18,

therefore here the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away that was sown in his heart. These verses in Matthew 13 verses 18 through 23 talk about four different types of ground. We're not going to get into it today, but you need to study what these four types of ground are. Amen. The key is that we need to understand the word, receive the word and receive it into our lives, knowing that we are good ground living by the word of God. Amen. Repeat this after me, say, I am good ground. I hear the word. I understand the word. I'm a doer of the word of God and I get good results as a result of the word of God. Amen. In the last message, we started talking about Paul's thorn in his side. We're going to finish that portion up, but let's go back and review a couple of things and continue from that same perspective of what the word says about a messenger of Satan given to Paul the apostle. Amen. Second Corinthians chapter 12 verse seven, it says, unless I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations. In other words, Paul had been given divine revelations by God, clarity, understanding. And because of that, Satan was upset. It goes on to say, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan. It's clear. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh, which was a messenger of Satan or from him to buff at me, lest I be exalted above measure. You know, when you get revelation in light, you should humble yourselves and be thankful to God. You know, it's, uh, you can get off on that in the ditch on either side of the road. Oh, that word that I just preached was not good. Did you just preach the word of God? Then glory to God,

if you spoke the word of God, it goes forth according to the word of God, and does not return void in those words, it will produce. You need to thank God. I've done it. I've been like, Oh man, I could have done better. you to give people revelation in light of it. Areas that I may have messed up on. I may not have explained properly. I trust the Holy Spirit to reveal to people. Amen, that they would grow. Amen? It's not about me. It's about them growing in the things of God. It's clearly stated that Paul had an abundance of revelation that it angered Satan. So, Satan tried to persecute him to harass him to keep that light from going forth. The last thing Satan wants is for the Word of God to go forth. He tries to shut it down. He doesn't want this message going out on the internet, going into over 400 prisons. Amen? He tries to shut it down. Well, he is a loser and he's not going to win. Amen? This messenger of Satan was called a thorn. And it was an evil spirit, a demon, not sickness. It was an evil spirit coming to harass the prophet, the man of God. Amen? God did not send this. I've heard people say that. Well, that means that God is working with Satan to send a demon spirit after a man and child of God that's trying to do what God's told him to do. That would be a house divided against itself and it would not stand. No, Satan, all his demons, they are all the enemies of God and they have been brought to not. One of these days, a big old angel is going to come down. He's going to come down, put them in change and throw them in the pit. See, hell was designed for Satan and his demons, not for man, but if we refuse to receive Jesus, then we will end up in that same place that was designed for demons. You don't want to be there. Amen? This was not a physical attack. This was, it would be like saying, I got a pain in the neck bothering me. These people are annoying me. They are pains in the neck. That's what he was saying here. It's, they're bothering me. Lord, can you just let them get away from me? Keep them from harassing me, stern up stuff when I'm trying to preach the gospel. Second Corinthians 12 verse 8 says, concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. What this thorn in the side, this pain in the neck, and he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. For my strength is made perfect in weakness, weakness. Doesn't say sickness. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. You know, whenever I was going to school for engineering, there's time to wear some of

the math tests I didn't do the best on. And I remember to this day, an instructor came to me and he says, you know what? You need to study more in this area. You're weak in that area. And I, I'm thinking about this thinking I'm weak in that area. I didn't have the basis or the thorough understanding of it. It annoyed me to even study it. I did not like trig at all, trig in geometry. Oh algebra, I, I enjoyed it, but I did not like geometry and trig. And that was a weakness. Not a sickness. It was a weakness. Amen. I had to apply myself to overcome in that area. Boasting and infirmities is a form of thanking God for it. And let's go on and read. And I'll tell you more about what that means. Verse 9. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, boast in my weakness that the power of Christ may rest upon me. That would be like me saying, oh glory to God. I did not understand a lot of the trig, didn't like it. But because of that, that's pain of me trying to get through it. And that lack of understanding, God help me. Thank you Lord for bringing me through, for quickening my mind and helping me through those tests. Oh Hallelujah. Boasting in this infirmity or this weakness is a form of thanking God for the victory. Amen. In the Greek, go back to the original Greek that Paul was speaking and writing in. The word infirmities here actually means weakness, not sickness. So people that try to say that Paul, he was, he was given a sickness and God said, just keep it, you know, it'll teach you. They're, they're misrepresenting the whole word of God in this chapter because it's weakness, what does that mean? It means giving thanks. So you're supposed to give thanks in the middle of having a pain in the neck bothering you. Why? You should see them first through God's eyes of as a person, but thanks leads to victory. So he's boasting, he's giving God thanks which leads to victory. First Corinthians 1557. So one of my favorite verses in the Bible. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Where do we get the victory through Jesus Christ? Where did it start with? Thanks. It leads you to victory, causes you to win. You start thanking God. Oh thank you Lord. Thank you for bringing me through this trial. Thank you for bringing me through this attack. Thank you Lord. Thank you for helping me put up with these people that are pains in the neck. Amen? Thank you Lord. For let me see them in your eyes. Thank you Lord. I show them mercy. No, I do not judge them. I'm not the judge. You're the judge. I sow mercy. Amen? Jesus on the cross nails any bleeding. He said father forgive them

for they know not what they do. Amen? Thanks releases the power of God in your situation, in your life. Second Corinthians chapter 12 verse 10 says, therefore I take pleasures and infirmities. That means weakness, right? I take pleasure in weakness, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For I am weak when I am strong. See when you're weak and you turn towards God, His power, His anointing, His grace, His ability will come upon you and bring you up and bring you out so that you can live in victory. The new English translation. I'll read these few verses to you in the N.E.T. it says, "Even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations, therefore so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me, so that I would not become arrogant." I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me, this annoying spirit that was a pain in the neck, that it would depart from me. But He said, "My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness, not in sickness. So then I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong." The Young's literal in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 10 says, "Wherefore I am well pleased in infirmities and damages in necessities and persecutions and distresses for Christ, for whenever I am infirm, then I am powerful." The Amplified says, "So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure and infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses, for when I am weak in human strength, then I am truly strong, able, powerful and divine strength." God's grace was enough for Paul to handle the situation. God will grace you and make you strong enough to handle anything the enemy brings at you, but you've got to humble yourself, boast on Him, give Him thanks for the strength. Thanks for bringing you through, amen? You have been created to be more than an overcomer. That word, more than an overcomer and comes from the Greek word hypernakeo. Nike gets the word, the swoosh from it, overcomer. You are more than an overcomer. You can make saint and regret he ever messed with you. Make him eat them words, amen? See, God's grace was enough for Paul to handle this situation and he will help you just like he did Paul the Apostle. He gave him grace. Well, what is grace and how do you get grace? I'm glad you asked. Turn to James chapter 4 verse 6. It says, "But he, but God gives more grace, that's earned, but you must obey. He gives more grace. I want more grace. I need more grace. I need

more of His ability in my life. And so do you, even if you don't recognize it. It goes on in James chapter 4 verse 6. Therefore, He says, God resists the proud. I do not want God resisting me. If God resists you, you aren't coming up and out. You're not going to defeat God. You're not going to defeat Him in any form or fashion. You do not want God resisting you. But He gives grace or His ability to those who are humble. So does that mean that you're supposed to be weak? No. Humility is not weakness. It's reality and it's strength. So who is grace given to? More grace is given to a specific group of people, not everyone. It's given to those who humble themselves and honor and recognize God. Grace is God's ability, God's favor. Amen. And so God will give you ability to overcome any attack of the enemy. Anything that Satan is trying to bring upon you, just like he did. Paul the apostle with the thorn in the side. With enough grace, you can conquer. You can overcome. You can defeat anything. Amen. You will also receive grace by faith in action. Okay. In other words, grace comes by being obedient. Oh, humbling yourself. Amen. And as you do and you acknowledge God, He will give you knowledge. He will give you health. He will give you financial provision. As you acknowledge Him, humble yourself before Him, live in faith and act according to the word what He's told you to do. He will help you in your new job. He will help you in school. Amen. He will help you whenever there's people that are a pain in your neck. Pride is the nature of Satan. Humility is the nature of God. God does not force Himself on us. He could force Himself on every human being and make them bow to Him right now. No, He gives us a free will. Meekness, humility means strength. We're pride being proud. That's actually weakness. It's a lie. Grace gives you a supercharging of your will to overcome schemes of the enemy, whether it be sex, porn, drugs, anger, lying, anything like that. Humility is strength in reality. Continue on James 4, verse 7. Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. So what will cause the devil to flee when you submit to God? Not just when you rebuke the enemy, not just when you resist Him. First, if you aren't submitting to God, He is not going to go anywhere. Whenever you submit to God and God's on your side, you resist the enemy, he's going to go. He's going to get out of there, put his tail between his legs and he's going to skid out. Amen? Submission is your choice. You choose whether or not you are going to rank under, submit under. That word submission means to rank under, submit under, or array, arrange under. Amen? So the degree of humility that you have in your life also determines the

usefulness of God in your life. The more you submit to God and resist the enemy, the more God can use you because you are going to be obedient to the word, obedient to do what He says the way He says when He says it without resisting Him, not living in fear. Amen? Not trying to get your mind wrapped around something or understand a full situation. It takes faith to truly submit to God. You submit by obeying the Word of God. That means we need to get into the Word and know what it says. Being led by the Holy Spirit, obeying the people that God has put over you. Romans chapter 13 verse 1. Hallelujah, I wasn't going to turn there, but let's do that briefly here. Romans chapter 13, glory to God. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no And the authorities that exist are appointed by God. We need to submit to the authorities above us. That means the police, judges, bosses, amen. Unto God, that doesn't mean we break the law. That doesn't mean we do things that are against the word of God. Submission is not easy. Jesus submitted to God's will and he suffered. Submission takes strength. Paul asked that the thorn in his side be taken away. When it wasn't, he didn't quit going a corner in Christ. Say, I'm not going to do this preaching stuff. No, he thanked God for the grace, the ability to deal with it. So grace is given to a specific group of people. Submission is not agreement. If you're in agreement, you're not submitting, you're just in agreement. Submission requires you to disagree and beat your flesh. You can disagree without being disagreeable, living in strife, and choose to submit, amen? Submission is not being forced. God does not force you.

Submission is when you submit yourself. Verse eight, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Hallelujah, that is what this is about. God is drawing near to him, verse 10, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up." That's the reason why Paul was rejoicing. He knew he was submitting to God, doing what God called him to do and God was going to raise him up. Hallelujah, a third of the New Testament is written by him and the word is still going forth because of what he did. Hallelujah, that takes strength. It takes humility and strength to even repent. That means you have to admit you're wrong. You have to change, amen? Must beat your flesh in order to be submission to the word of God. Some people say, "Oh baby, let it out." No, that's weakness. Don't let it in. Strength says, "Nope, I'm not even going to let that move me, let alone inside me." Amen? Don't let it in. Be strong. Be wise. Resist the enemy. Amen? Remember, 1 John 5, 4 says, "For whatever is born of God, overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith." Verse 5 says, "Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." Amen.

If you believe Jesus is the Son of God and you've made him Lord and Savior in life, you are an overcomer. You are a hyper-nicayo dude. Amen? Hallelujah. Well, this is Mike Kennedy with Living in Victory. Have a blessed day. [music] [music]