On My Own Behalf, I Will Not Boast

Wesley Wright

Lighthouse Bible Church

Sunday, September 27, 2026

On my own behalf, I will not boast

2 Corinthians 12:1-7

Remember:

●Paul “boasted” of his weakness

●Three heavens in a Jewish manner of speaking

●Paul, called up to the third (highest) of the heavens

Looking forward:

●How do we know Paul is speaking of himself?

●Paul = ministry-first, not vision-first

●We too will be caught up in due time

Paul was a humble man (and so was the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he followed). Paul sought to draw attention away from himself, and that should be our aim too.

Paul’s aim is to take the focus off of himself, and his initial vagueness is one way to do that: Proverbs 27:2, Proverbs 25:27

Our Lord Jesus Christ pointed to the words of His Father, too, but keep in mind that He did it for a different reason: John 12:44-49, John 14:7-12

How do we know the person Paul is referring to is himself in our passage?

He says so once you read a smidge further: 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

Paul says was he caught to Paradise (2 Corinthians 12:4). We see the same word (paradeisos) elsewhere in the NT.

Let’s read: Luke 23:36-43, Revelation 2:1-7

The only boasting Paul is willing to do is tied to his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:5). Does that sound familiar?

It was important to Paul that people firstly consider his ministry, not those visions — though they were and are legitimate (2 Corinthians 12:6). They could judge his ministry, but they could not observe his visions.

Jesus Christ implored his listeners to look at what His Father did, too, and that was during his public ministry: John 10:34-38

Paul was caught up, as we’ve read. However this life goes, remember that the people of God will ultimately be caught up, too, in the future: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

Paul went to painstaking lengths to point to our God, instead of himself, and we should do the same. We are beneficiaries of God’s wonderful, providential plan of salvation made possible via His Son Christ.

Be wary of those who claim to have a vision or a revelation from the Lord. Are they pointing to Him or themselves? Does it line up with the scriptures we already have?

There’s a great deal of misunderstandings about the thorn in Paul’s side, which we’ll address next week. Remember this for now — God’s grace is sufficient for Paul then and for us now.

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