Thankful for the Thorns
The sermon teaches us to find strength and joy in our struggles and hardships, recognizing them as opportunities for growth and closeness to God.
Charles E. Cowman delves into the profound truth of finding strength in weakness and joy in hardships for the sake of Christ. He emphasizes the transformative power of embracing our limitations, insults, challenges, and persecutions, as they lead us to a place of complete reliance on God's sufficiency. Through the examples of A. B. Simpson and George Matheson, he highlights the shift in perspective needed to see trials as opportunities for blessing and growth, ultimately leading us to a deeper understanding of the value of our struggles and the beauty that can emerge from pain.
Text
"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" (2 Cor. 12:10).
The literal translation of this verse gives a startling emphasis to it, and makes it speak for itself with a force that we have probably never realized. Here It is: "Therefore I take pleasure in being without strength, in insults, in being pinched, in being chased about, in being cooped up in a corner for Christ's sake; for when I am without strength, then am I dynamite."
Here is the secret of Divine all-sufficiency, to come to the end of everything in ourselves and in our circumstances. When we reach this place, we will stop asking for sympathy because of our hard situation or bad treatment, for we will recognize these things as the very conditions of our blessing, and we will turn from them to God and find in them a claim upon Him. --A. B. Simpson
George Matheson, the well-known blind preacher of Scotland, who recently went to be with the Lord, said: "My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross; but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory.
"Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbows."
"Alas for him who never sees
The stars shine through the cypress trees."
Sermon Outline
- I. The Secret of Divine All-Sufficiency
- A. Coming to the end of ourselves and our circumstances
- B. Recognizing hard situations and bad treatment as conditions of blessing
- C. Turning to God and finding a claim upon Him
- II. The Value of Our Thorn
- A. Recognizing our thorn as a present glory
- B. Seeing our cross as a path to God
- C. Understanding that our tears can make our rainbows
- III. The Importance of Thankfulness
- A. Thanking God for our thorn, not just our roses
- B. Recognizing that our cross is a present glory, not just a future compensation
Key Quotes
“Therefore I take pleasure in being without strength, in insults, in being pinched, in being chased about, in being cooped up in a corner for Christ's sake; for when I am without strength, then am I dynamite.” — Charles E. Cowman
“Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbows.” — Charles E. Cowman
“Alas for him who never sees The stars shine through the cypress trees.” — Charles E. Cowman
Application Points
- We should strive to see our struggles and hardships as opportunities for growth and closeness to God, rather than as sources of complaint and frustration.
- We should thank God for our thorn, not just our roses, and recognize its value as a present glory.
- We should trust God to use our struggles and hardships to bring beauty and joy into our lives, turning our tears into rainbows.