So, what does God do? Second Corinthians 12:7: “A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” So, God has at least two ways that he can prevent conceit in Paul’s life on account of great revelations. (1) Don’t give him any, or (2) give him plenty, plus pain.
Who gave Paul the thorn in the flesh? We know the answer to that question by the aim — the design, the purpose — of the thorn. And Paul mentions it twice, at the beginning of the verse and the end of the verse, lest we miss it. Verse 7 at the beginning: “to keep me from becoming conceited.” Verse 7 at the end: “to keep me from becoming conceited.” You know as well as I do that Satan’s purpose in this world is not to eliminate conceit in God’s people. That’s God’s purpose. So, God is the one who gave the thorn. “A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.”
And, to make sure that our minds don’t stop being boggled (for the rest of your lives, graduates!), Paul says that God uses a “messenger of Satan” to harass Paul with this thorn. God uses demons to undo the design of the father of demons. God uses Satan to defeat the purposes of Satan. This is not exceptional. He did it with Job. He did it with Judas. And he did it with Paul.
Disarmed in Death
What happened when “Satan entered into Judas” (Luke 22:3)? Judas handed Jesus over to be crucified. And what happened when Jesus was crucified? I’ll read it to you: “He disarmed the [satanic!] rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15).
The death of Jesus disarmed Satan in his warfare against God’s elect. It stripped him of his only damning weapon — unforgiven sin (Romans 8:33–34). When Satan entered into Judas, he signed his own death warrant with the blood of Jesus. The suicide of Judas was symbolic of the suicide of Satan. Over and over again in the history of God’s people, God shames Satan as a suicidal fool in the service of salvation. That’s what he’s doing here — putting Satan to work for Paul’s protection from pride. Putting the father of all pride to work to deliver God’s elect from pride.
God Perfects His Power in Weakness
