Introduction:

 Paul is back to the “foolish boasting” the Corinthian church forced him into.

… listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little. ¹⁷ Such boasting is not from the Lord, but I am acting like a fool. ¹⁸ And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too.  (2 Corinthians 11:16-18 NLT)

The Necessity for Paul’s Boasting

Paul’s Boasting (continued)

Paul’s Vision

2 Corinthians 12:1-7a NLT
¹ This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. ² I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. ³ Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know ⁴ that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
⁵ That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. ⁶ If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, ⁷ even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God.

Examine the scriptures:

2 Corinthians 12:1-7a NLT

Paul’s Boasting (continued)

Paul’s Vision
¹ This boasting will do no good,

• Paul is back to the “foolish boasting” the Corinthian church forced him into.

… listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little. ¹⁷ Such boasting is not from the Lord, but I am acting like a fool. ¹⁸ And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too.  (2 Corinthians 11:16-18 NLT)

• This boasting will not build up the church. 

but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord.  

Six of Paul’s visions are recorded in Acts:

Acts 9:12, 16:9-10, 18:9, 22:17-18, 23:11, 27:23-24.  (Due to the timing and content of these visions, these visions can’t be the visions Paul is referring to in these verses.)

Paul also talks about visions in Galatians 1:12, 2:2, and Ephesians 3:3. (The content in these verses is very “general”.

As a boast, it was crucial that the Corinthians know that he was outmatched by no one in revelations and visions.

He did it to silence his critics and enable him to minister freely.

… listen to me, (2 Corinthians 11:16 NLT)

2 Corinthians 12:11 NLT (next lesson)
¹¹ You have made me act like a fool. You ought to be writing commendations for me, for I am not at all inferior to these “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing at all.

• Paul boasted to silence his critics and enable him to minister freely. 

² I was caught up to the third heaven

A Jewish expression for the immediate presence of God.

When Paul says that he went to the third heaven, he means that he went to the place where God dwells.

fourteen years ago.

AD 43 (After his conversion and prior to his 1^st missionary journey.)

Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. 

• Paul wasn’t sure whether he was in a trance or actually taken to heaven, but he did know that he was in the presence of God.

³ Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know ⁴ that I was caught up to paradise (into the presence of Jesus) and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.

• Paul experienced something we will not experience until Christ returns and takes us home to be with him.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 NLT
¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

This experience may have been similar to what John experienced in Revelation 1.

Revelation 1:12-19 NLT
¹² When I (John) turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. ¹³ And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. ¹⁴ His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. ¹⁶ He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.
¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.
¹⁹ “Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.

⁵ That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. 

• Paul’s experience was certainly something many of us would be tempted to boast about.

In addition to the boasting Paul did about

his physical struggles,

his long and hard work,

and his spiritual struggles (discussed in the previous lesson)

Paul states that he could boast about his experience of being caught up to paradise and hearing things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words. 

• Paul did not share the details of his experience. 

• Paul believed that this boasting would not build up the church. 

I will boast only about my weaknesses. 

2 Corinthians 11:30
³⁰ If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. 

• Paul wanted to point away from himself and toward God.

John 15:5 NLT
⁵ “Yes, I (Jesus) am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

⁶ If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth.

But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message,

• Paul doesn’t want anyone to give him credit beyond what they could see in his life or hear in his message, (certainly not some mystical experience). 

 ⁷ even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. 

Redeemer Day School verses are Psalm 78:4-7, “We will… tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord… so that they should set their hope in God.” The entire fourth verse reads, “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders he has done.” Verses 6 and 7 go on to say, “that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God.” Our prayer is that all of our students “set their hope” in Christ. This hope is what we are all about. What a privilege we have in our obedience to the Lord to plant seeds in the hearts of these little ones! We pray that the Lord would cause those seeds to grow!

What do these verses NOT include?

Boasting about the achievements of individuals in the school.