1. 2 CORITHIAS 12 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE PEASEPaul's Vision and His Thorn1 I must go on boasting. Although there isnothing to be gained, I will go on to visions andrevelations from the Lord.1. JAMISON, He proceeds to illustrate the glorying in infirmities (2Co 11:30). Hegave one instance which might expose him to ridicule (2Co 11:33); he now givesanother, but this one connected with a glorious revelation of which it was the sequel:but he dwells not on the glory done to himself, but on the infirmity which followed it,as displaying Christ's power. The oldest manuscripts read, I MUST NEEDS boast (orglory) though it be not expedient; for I will come. The for gives a proof that it isnot expedient to boast: I will take the case of revelations, in which if anywhereboasting might be thought harmless. Visions refers to things seen: revelations, tothings heard (compare 1Sa 9:15) or revealed in any way. In visions theirsignification was not always vouchsafed; in revelations there was always anunveiling of truths before hidden (Da 2:19, 31). All parts of Scripture alike arematter of inspiration; but not all of revelation. There are degrees of revelation; butnot of inspiration. of--that is, from the Lord; Christ, 2Co 12:2.2. GUZIK i. Paul's reluctance is expressed in his opening words of this chapter: It isdoubtless not profitable for me to boast. Paul is tired of writing about himself! Hewould much rather write about Jesus! But the worldly thinking which made theCorinthian Christians think little of Paul was also making them think little of Jesus,even if they couldn't perceive it.Visions and revelation ? whether they are of angels, Jesus, heaven, or other things -are more common in the New Testament than we might think.i. Zechariah, the fatherof John the Baptist, had a vision of an angel (Luke 1:8-23).ii. Jesus' transfiguration is described as a vision for the disciples (Matthew 17:9).iii. The women who came to visit Jesus' tomb had a vision of angels (Luke 24:22-24).iv. Stephen saw a vision of Jesus at his death (Acts 7:55-56).v. Ananias experienced a vision telling him to go to Saul (Acts 9:10).vi. Peter had a vision of the clean and unclean animals (Acts 10:17-19 and 11:5).vii. Peter had a vision of an angel at his release from prison (Acts 12:9).viii. John had many visions on Patmos (Revelation 1:1).ix. Paul had a revelation of Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 22:6-11 and 26:12-

2. 20).x. Paul had vision of a man from Macedonia, asking him to come to that region tohelp (Acts 16:9-10).xi. Paul had an encouraging vision while in Corinth (Acts 18:9-11).xii. Paul had a vision of an angel on the ship that was about to be wrecked (Acts27:23-25).xiii. So, we should not be surprised if God should speak to us through some type ofvisions and revelations of the Lord. But we do understand that such experiences aresubjective, and prone to misunderstanding and misapplication. In addition, whateverreal benefit there are to visions and revelations of the Lord, they are almost alwayslimited to the one receiving the visions and revelations. We should be rather cautiouswhen someone reports a vision or revelation they have regarding us.xiv. How often people have wanted to tell me about their visions! I am alwayssuspicious. I want to know what they had for supper the night before! If people havevisions of this sort they are silent about them. (Morgan)3. BARNES Verse 1. It is not expedient. It is not well; it does not become me. This mayeither mean that he felt and admitted that it did not become him to boast in this manner;that there was an impropriety in his doing it, though circumstances had compelled him--and in this sense it is understood by nearly, or quite, all expositors; or it may be takenironically: Such a man as I am ought not to boast. So you say, and so it would seem. Aman who has done no more than I have; who has suffered nothing; who has been idle andat ease as I have been, ought surely not to boast. And since there is such an evidentimpropriety in my boasting and speaking about myself, I will turn to another matter, andinquire whether the same thing may not be said about visions and revelations. I willspeak, therefore, of a man who had some remarkable revelations, and inquire whether hehas any right to boast of the favours imparted to him. This seems to me to be theprobable interpretation of this passage.To glory. To boast, 2 Corinthians 10:8,13; 11:10. One of the charges which they allegedagainst him was, that he was given to boasting without any good reason. After theenumeration in the previous chapter of what he had done and suffered, he says that thiswas doubtless very true. Such a man has nothing to boast of.I will come. Marg., For I will. Our translators have omitted the word (~gar~) for in thetext, evidently supposing that it is a mere expletive. Doddridge renders it, nevertheless.But it seems to me that it contains an important sense, and that it should be rendered byTHEN: Since it is not fit that I should glory, then I will refer to visions, etc. I will turnaway, then, from that subject, and come to another. Thus the word (~gar~) is used inJohn 7:41, Shall, THEN, (~mh gar~) Christ come out of Galilee? Acts 8:31, How canI, THEN, (~pwv gar~) except some man should guide me See also Acts 19:35; Romans3:3; Philippians 1:18.To visions. The word vision is used in the Scriptures often to denote the mode in whichDivine communications were usually made to men. This was done by causing some sceneto appear to pass before the mind as in a landscape, so that the individual seemed to see a 3. representation of what was to occur in some future period. It was usually applied toprophecy, and is often used in the Old Testament. See Barnes Isaiah 1:1, and also SeeBarnes Acts 9:10. The vision which Paul here refers to was that which he was permittedto have of the heavenly world, 2 Corinthians 12:4. He was permitted to see what perhapsno other mortal had seen, the glory of heaven.And revelations of the Lord. Which the Lord had made. Or it may mean manifestationswhich the Lord had made of himself to him. The word rendered revelations means,properly, an uncovering, ~apokaluqeiv~, from ~apokaluptw~, to uncover; and denotesa removal of the vail of ignorance and darkness, so that an object may be clearly seen;and is thus applied to truth revealed, because the obscurity is removed, and the truthbecomes manifest.4. Calvin1. It is not expedient for me to glory Now, when as it were in the middle ofthe course, he restrains himself from proceeding farther, and in this way hemost appropriately reproves the impudence of his rivals and declares that itis with reluctance, that he engages in this sort of contest with them. Forwhat a shame it was to scrape together from every quartercommendations, or rather to go a-begging for them, that they might be ona level with so distinguished a man! As to the latter, he admonishes themby his own example, that the more numerous and the more excellent thegraces by which any one of us is distinguished, so much the less ought heto think of his own excellence. For such a thought is exceedingly dangerous,because, like one entering into a labyrinth, the person is immediatelydazzled, so as to be too quick-sighted in discerning his gifts, 877877 Sesdons et graces ; His gifts and graces. while in the mean time he isignorant of himself. Paul is afraid, lest this should befall him. The gracesconferred by God are, indeed, to be acknowledged, that we may bearoused, first, to gratitude for them, and secondly, to the rightimprovement of them; but to take occasion from them to boast that iswhat cannot be done without great danger.For I will come 878878 I will come Marg For I will Our Translators haveomitted ( ) , for, in the text, evidently supposing that it is a mere expletive.Doddridge renders it nevertheless. But it seems to me that it contains animportant sense, and that it should be rendered by then. Since it is not fit that Ishould glory, then I will refer to visions, etc. I will turn away, then, from thatsubject, and come to another. Thus the word ( ) , for , is used in John7:41, Shall then ( ) Christ come out of Galilee? Acts 8:31, How can Ithen ( ) except some man should guide me? Barnes. Granville Pennrenders the passage as follows: Must I needs boast? It is not good indeed, yet Iwill come to visions and revelations of the Lord. This rendering he adopts, ascorresponding with the reading of the Vat. and most ancient MS. Ed. to visions. I shall not creep on the ground, but will beconstrained to mount aloft. Hence I am afraid, lest the height of my gifts shouldhurry me on, so as to lead me to forget myself. And certainly, if Paul hadgloried ambitiously, he would have fallen headlong from a lofty eminence; for itis humility alone that can give stability to our greatness in the sight of God. 4. Between visions and revelations there is this distinction that a revelation isoften made either in a dream, or by an oracle, without any thing beingpresented to the eye, while a vision is scarcely ever afforded without arevelation, or in other words, without the Lords discovering what is meant by it.8795. CLARKE, It is not expedient for me - There are several various readings onthis verse which are too minute to be noticed here; they seem in effect to represent theverse thus: If it be expedient to glory, (which does not become me), I will proceed tovisions, etc. The plain meaning of the apostle, in this and the preceding chapter, inreference to glorying is, that though to boast in any attainments, or in what God did byhim, was in all possible cases to be avoided, as being contrary to the humility andsimplicity of the Gospel; yet the circumstances in which he was found, in reference to theCorinthian Church, and his detractors there, rendered it absolutely necessary; not for hispersonal vindication, but for the honor of the Gospel, the credit of which was certainly atstake.I will come to visions - Symbolical representations of spiritual andcelestial things, in which matters of the deepest importance are exhibited to the eye ofthe mind by a variety of emblems, the nature and properties of which serve to illustratethose spiritual things.Revelations - A manifestation of things not before known, and such asGod alone can make known, because they are a part of his own inscrutable counsels.6. GILL, It is not expedient doubtless for me to glory,.... Though it was lawfulfor him to glory, and was necessary in the present circumstances of things, in vindicationof himself, and to preserve the Corinthians from being carried away with theinsinuations of the false apostles; and so for the honour and interest of Christ and theGospel; yet it was not expedient on some other accounts, or profitable and serviceable tohimself; he might find that it tended to stir up pride, vanity, and elation of mind in him,and might be interpreted by others as proud boasting and vain glorying; wherefore hechose to drop it, and pass on to another subject; or rather though it was not expedient toproceed, yet, before he entirely quitted it, he thought it proper to say something of theextraordinary appearances of God unto him. Some copies, and the Vulgate Latin version,read, if there was need of glorying, it is not indeed expedient; the Syriac version, thereis need of glorying, but it is not expedient; and the Arabic version, neither have I needto glory, nor is it expedient for me: I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord;such as the Lord had made to him, and not man; and which were not the fruit of his ownfancy, or the delusions of Satan; but were from the Lord Jesus Christ, and his glory. Theapostle might very well speak of visions or heavenly appearances, since he wasfavoured with many; his conversion was owing to a vision or appearance of Christ tohim, whom he saw with his bodily eyes, and heard him speaking to him, and which hecalls the heavenly vision; at another time when at Troas, a vision appeared to him inthe night, and a man of Macedonia stood and prayed him to come over and help them;and when at Corinth the Lord spoke to him by a vision, and bid him not be afraid, but goon preaching the Gospel, because he had much people there to be brought in through hisministry: and as for revelations, besides what are ordinary and common to all believers,he had extraordinary ones; the Gospel and the scheme of it, the knowledge of the several 5. particular doctrines of it, were not attained to by him in the common way, but he hadthem by the revelation of Jesus Christ; the several mysterious parts of it, particularlythat of the calling of the Gentiles, to which might be added, the change that will be uponthe living saints at Christ's second coming, were made known to him by revelation; andsometimes in this extraordinary way he was directed to go to such or such a place, as at acertain time he went up to Jerusalem by revelation, where he was to do or suffer manythings for the sake of Christ: though he had no revelation of anything that was differentfrom, and much less contrary to the Gospel, and as it was preached by the otherapostles; for there was an entire agreement between him and them in their ministry; seeGal_2:2, and these visions and revelations were for his instruction, direction, andencouragement in the ministration of the Gospel; and being of an extraordinary nature,were suitable to those extraordinary times, and not to be expected in an ordinary way,nor is there any need of them now; besides, these were visions and revelations of theLord, and not the effects of enthusiasm, and a warm imagination, nor diabolicaldelusions, or the pretensions and cheats of designing men; and were for theconfirmation and establishment of the Gospel, and not to countenance a new scheme, orintroduce a new dispensation; wherefore all visions and revelations men pretend to,which are for such a purpose, are to be despised and rejected.7. HERY,The narrative the apostle gives of the favours God had shown him, and thehonour he had done him; for doubtless he himself is the man in Christ of whom hespeaks. Concerning this we may take notice, 1. Of the honour itself which was done tothe apostle: he was caught up into the third heaven, 2Co_12:2. When this was we cannotsay, whether it was during those three days that he lay without sight at his conversion orat some other time afterwards, much less can we pretend to say how this was, whetherby a separation of his soul from his body or by an extraordinary transport in the depth ofcontemplation. It would be presumption for us to determine, if not also to enquire into,this matter, seeing the apostle himself says, Whether in the body or out of the body, Icannot tell. It was certainly a very extraordinary honour done him: in some sense he wascaught up into the third heaven, the heaven of the blessed, above the aerial heaven, inwhich the fowls fly, above the starry heaven, which is adorned with those glorious orbs:it was into the third heaven, where God most eminently manifests his glory. We are notcapable of knowing all, nor is it fit we should know very much, of the particulars of thatglorious place and state; it is our duty and interest to give diligence to make sure toourselves a mansion there; and, if that be cleared up to us, then we should long to beremoved thither, to abide there for ever. This third heaven is called paradise (2Co_12:4),in allusion to the earthly paradise out of which Adam was driven for his transgression; itis called the paradise of God (Rev_2:7), signifying to us that by Christ we are restored toall the joys and honours we lost by sin, yea, to much better. The apostle does notmention what he saw in the third heaven or paradise, but tells us that he heardunspeakable words, such as it is not possible for a man to utter - such are the sublimityof the matter and our unacquaintedness with the language of the upper world: nor was itlawful to utter those words, because, while we are here in this world, we have a moresure word of prophecy than such visions and revelations. 2Pe_1:19. We read of thetongue of angels as well as men, and Paul knew as much of that as ever any man uponearth did, and yet preferred charity, that is, the sincere love of God and our neighbour.This account which the apostle gives us of his vision should check our curious desiresafter forbidden knowledge, and teach us to improve the revelation God has given us inhis word. Paul himself, who had been in the third heaven, did not publish to the worldwhat he had heard there, but adhered to the doctrine of Christ: on this foundation the 6. church is built, and on this we must build our faith and hope. 2. The modest and humblemanner in which the apostle mentions this matter is observable. One would be apt tothink that one who had had such visions and revelations as these would have boastedgreatly of them; but, says he, It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory, 2Co_12:1. Hetherefore did not mention this immediately, nor till above fourteen years after, 2Co_12:2. And then it is not without some reluctancy, as a thing which in a manner he wasforced to by the necessity of the case. Again, he speaks of himself in the third person, anddoes not say, I am the man who was thus honoured above other men. Again, his humilityappears by the check he seems to put upon himself (2Co_12:6), which plainly shows thathe delighted not to dwell upon this theme. Thus was he, who was not behind the chief ofthe apostles in dignity, very eminent for his humility. Note, It is an excellent thing tohave a lowly spirit in the midst of high advancements; and those who abase themselvesshall be exalted.8. IVPEcstatic Experiences (12:1-6) In the Western church we cultivate andvalue people with vision--those forward-looking, direction-setting individualswho can see where God would have the church move in the coming decades.Little place, however, is given to visions per se--that is, to something beheldin a God-given dream, trance or ecstasy. Yet visions were a regular means ofdivine communication in biblical times. In the Old Testament visions were afamiliar medium by which God let it be known what he was going to do (Dahn1978:514). They are also common in the New Testament. In fact, theoutpouring of the Spirit in the latter days is associated with sons anddaughters prophesying, young men seeing visions and old men dreamingdreams (Acts 2:17). Typical examples are the vision Peter had of heavenopening and something like a large sheet being let down by its four corners(Acts 10:9-15) and the vision Paul had of a man standing and begging him tocome over to Macedonia (Acts 16:9). The value that the early church placedon such experiences can be seen from the fact that Paul in his boasting turnslast to visions and revelations (12:1).Paul cannot pass up an opportunity to reiterate that all this boasting servesno good purpose. There is nothing to be gained by going on to suchexperiences; but it is necessary (NIV I must go on, v. 1). This is the onlytime that Paul says he must boast. It can be fairly concluded that his rivalshave laid claim to visionary and revelatory experiences. But this in and ofitself was probably not enough to force his hand. The Corinthians must havelooked on the ecstatic as the trump card in what was already thought to be awinning hand. So Paul feels compelled to match his rivals' boasting or losethe church to those he thinks are deceitful workers and Satan's henchmen(11:13-15, 20).Still, even though he finds it necessary, he does not find it a prof- itableexercise (NIV there is nothing to be gained). The Greek term sympheron inPaul's writings typically refers to what is beneficial or helpful. Here it denotesthat which is useful. What use are ecstatic experiences for ministry? Can theyequip? Can they direct? Can they instruct? They cannot even be properly 7. communicated (things that man is not permitted to tell, v. 4). So what goodare they? If they possess no ministerial value, why then boast about them ashis rivals are doing? And why are the Corinthians placing such importance onthem? That the Corinthians would value ecstatic experiences is notsurprising. They were highly prized in the Greco-Roman world and inJudaism. Even in rabbinic circles there is frequent mention of visions, fieryappearances and voices (Oepke 1964b:456).Having cleared the air about the senselessness of such boasting, Paul finds itnonetheless necessary to proceed to visions and revelations (v. 1). Thephrase is without parallel in the New Testament, so Paul may be picking upthe language of the Corinthian intruders. The distinction betoeen a vision anda revelation is not immediately obvious. The Greek term optasia denotes thatwhich is seen (compare optical). Apokalypsis (revelation), on the otherhand, is a broader term that applies to all forms of divine disclosure and caninvolve the whole range of senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch). Itis strange that Paul puts what he recounts in verses 1-10 in the category ofvisions and revelations. It is not actually a vision, since he heardinexpressible things rather than saw them (v. 4). Nor is it a revelatory eventin any explicit sense. It comes closest to an ecstasy--that is, a transportationout of one's normal, mundane sphere of existence into the supramundanerealm of the divine (v. 2, heaven). So perhaps it is best to understand visionsand revelations as a catchall phrase for a wide range of supramundaneexperiences. Whatever Paul experienced, it was decidedly of the Lord. Thegenitive could be objective: visions and revelations of the Lord himself(Phillips). Or, more probably, it is subjective: visions and revelations from theLord (TEV, NIV, JB, NEB).In order to match his rivals boast for boast, Paul breaks a vow of silence andmentions an ecstatic experience that occurred fourteen years earlier (v. 2).This would place the event during the so-called silent years, when Paul was inthe region of Syria and Cilicia (Acts 9:30; Gal 1:21). It happened well beforehis evangelistic foray in Corinth (c. A.D. 50-52), but not before his Damascusroad encounter with the risen Christ (I know a man in Christ).The story is narrated in the third-person singular: I know a man. . . . Heheard inexpressible things. Paul's use of the third person is indeed puzzling.He cannot be telling about someone else's experience; otherwise there wouldbe no grounds for personal boasting. Plus, all the details of the story point toits being a personal experience. Attempts to explain it are wide-ranging: it issymptomatic of his aversion to boasting (Bruce 1971:246); he did it to avoidsuggesting that he was special because of his experiences (M. J. Harris1976:395); the style reflects the sense of self-transcendence that suchexperiences seem to entail (Furnish 1984:544); he didn't allocate muchimportance to it (Loubser 1991:77); he will speak personally only of thingsthat show weakness (Kasemann 1942:66-67); or he is distancing hisapostolic self from the self in which he has been forced to boast (Baird1985:654). But it may simply be that speaking of himself impersonally is theonly way he can look at the experience with any kind of detachment (Barclay1954:256; Murphy-O'Connor 1991:118). Paul is already a reluctant 8. competitor. To boast of ecstatic experiences in a personal way may just havebeen beyond him.Compared to other first-century accounts of heavenly journeys, Paul's isnotably terse. Only too things are mentioned. One, he was caught up to thethird heaven (v. 2), and too, he heard inexpressible things (v. 4). The NIVcaught up might more accurately be translated seized or snatched(harpazw). The verb means to grasp something forcibly (plunder, steal)and suddenly (snatch). Luke uses it of the Spirit's physically seizing Philipand transporting him to another geographical location (Acts 8:39-40), whilein eschatological contexts it denotes a mighty operation of God (as in 1 Thess4:17; Rev 12:5; Foerster 1964:472-73).Paul says that he was snatched up to the third heaven. Heaven is the abodeof God and of those closely associated with him (see our Father in heaven,Mt 6:9; the angels in heaven, Mk 13:32). A journey to heaven whererevelations are received about things on the other side is a familiar idea infirst-century apocalyptic and rabbinic materials (Bietenhard 1976:191-92).The notion of a multiplicity of heavens began to surface in theintertestamental period (2 Macc 15:23; 3 Macc 2:2, king of the heavens;Wisdom of Solomon 9:10, the holy heavens; Tobit 8:5, the heavens).Some Jewish materials speak of only one heaven (such as Philo; 2 Esdras4:9), while others tell of three (Testament of Levi 2-3, the uppermostheaven), five (3 Baruch 11, the angel led me to the fifth heaven) and evenseven heavens (such as Pesiqta Rabbati 98a, God opened seven heavens toMoses).Paul is not sure whether he was in the body or out of the body when hemade his heavenly journey (v. 2). Bodily translation is a distinctly Jewishnotion (as in he immediately became invisible and went up into heaven andstood before God, Testament of Abraham 8; compare 1 Enoch 12:1). Evenso, a Hellenistic Jew like Philo can state that it is contrary to holy law for whatis mortal to dwell with what is immortal (Who Is the Heir of Divine Things265; compare Josephus Jewish Wars 7.8.7). For the Greek and Gnostic alikeit was the soul freed from the body that was able to soar to heaven. Ecstaticexperiences of this sort often entailed a loss of sense perception andvoluntary control, so that Paul may genuinely have not known whether hewas physically transported to heaven or not. God alone holds this knowledge(God knows, vv. 2-3), and to Paul's way of thinking it mattered very little.What mattered was what he heard. This man, he says, heard inexpressiblethings (vv. 3-4). The phrase arreta rhemata can mean words that are eitherineffable (too lofty to be spoken) or inexpressible (too difficult to verbalize).Things that a man is not permitted to tell, in the second half of verse 4,makes the former option the likelier one. The verb exestin (permitted)denotes that which is lawful or allowable (compare 1 Cor 6:12; 10:23). Paulhas no right to share the details of his experience, and so he doesn't. Hisrivals, on the other hand, freely divulge and in so doing call into question thegenuineness of their purported experiences.Paul seems to start all over again in verses 3-4: And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know . . . Is he relating 9. a second ecstatic experience? The opening and suggests this. But thevirtually identical phraseology says otherwise. Paul's fumbling and restartingare merely symptomatic of great unease. Even though his hand is forced, heis having a hard time getting the words out.This second time around, the third heaven is identified as paradise.Paradeisos is a Persian loanword for a circular enclosure and is generally usedof a garden or park area (Bietenhard and Brown 1976:760-61). Mytes frommany nations speak of a land or a place of blessedness on the edge of theknown world. Paradise for the first-century Jew, on the other hand, waslocated in heaven--or even in a third heaven (2 Enoch 8.1-8; Adam and Eve40.1)--and was thought to be the abode of the righteous after death (3Baruch 10.5, the place where the souls of the righteous come when theyassemble). It was in this uppermost heaven of all that God dwelt, and withhim the archangels (Testament of Levi 3). So the very fact that Paul wastransported to God's abode meant that he could compete with anything hisrivals boasted about. Jesus, it will be remembered, promised one of the mencrucified with him that he would be with him in paradise that very day (Lk23:40-43). So also in Revelation 2:7 the right to eat of the tree of life inparadise is promised to the one who overcomes.About a man like that, Paul says, I will boast; on the other hand, I will notboast about myself (or, more accurately, on behalf of a man . . . on behalfof myself [hyper + the genitive]; v. 5). The distinction betoeen the narratorand the individual in question is maintained. Why this is becomes clearer withthe final phrase of verse 5: I will not boast except about my weaknesses(technically, in my weaknesses [en + the dative]). Paul can boast if helooks at himself dispassionately. But when he considers himself personally,he can commend only what his rivals would consider weaknesses (Bruce1971:247).An important qualifier is thrown in at this point. If I should choose to boast, Iwould not be a fool (v. 6). The term fool (a + phrwn, or un-wise) denotes alack of sense or reason. Although Paul plays the fool, what he says is by nomeans foolish. And if he chose to boast in something other than hisweaknesses, he would not be making a fool of himself (as the Corinthianintruders were). Why not? Because, unlike his rivals, who had anexaggerated opinion of themselves that had little or no foundation in reality,he would be speaking the truth. So Paul could legitimately boast, but herefrains from doing so for too reasons. First, he would have no one thinkmore of [him] than is warranted by what he does or says (v. 6). The wordtranslated warranted (logisetai) means to draw a logical conclusion from agiven set of facts (Eichler 1978:822-23). Paul wants the Corinthians'judgment of him to be based on what they themselves have witnessed andnot pie-in-the-sky claims that he makes about himself. Second, he refrainsbecause of the surpassingly great revelations that he experienced (v. 7).Hyperbole has the force of a superlative (JB extraordinary; NEBmagnificent) rather than a comparative (NIV surpassing). So extraordinarywere the revelations that others would be tempted to think highly of him if hewere to share the details. And so he refrains from saying any more. 10. 9. BI, On Paul being caught up to the third heavenIn the words of the apostle, in his Epistle to the Colossians, I call upon you, If ye berisen with Christ, seek those things that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right handof God. Set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth. Yes, tosuch an exercise of the affections we have constant need to exhort one another. Perhapswe know too little of the glorious things above in order to love them heartily. First, let usconsider the event itself; secondly, what the apostle saw in heaven.1. Who is the man that speaks to us in our text? The more remarkable the things arewhich any one relates, the more important it is to know who our informant is,whether he deserves credit. Now, you are aware that the speaker on this occasion isno fanciful enthusiast, no mere sentimentalist. He is a man who in numerouspassages of his Epistles zealously opposed religious delusions and a false spirituality,and strove to fix both himself and the Church on the written, firm, prophetic Word,and not on feelings, visions, and ecstasies. Indeed, we may say of him that a calmreflective understanding predominated in him more than in any other of theapostles. He was also a man of learning. It cannot be imagined for one moment thatvainglory and self-exaltation prompted him to give the narrative contained in ourtext. Oh! in what a light do we, imperfect Christians, appear when placed by the sideof this great apostle! We who are used to experience only some slight measure ofanswer to prayer and of spiritual elevation. Only think! for fourteen years he keptthis matter to himself! How does this impress on it the stamp of truth! Let us nowconsider the statements of the apostle. He begins with saying, It is not expedient forme, doubtless, to glory. Do not imagine (he means to say) that I wish to utter thisfor my own glory. I knew a man in Christ, he goes on to say. Paul speaks of himselfas of a third person. In looking back on a period of life long since passed, a personfeels as if he was contemplating another and not himself. At such a distance a personjudges of himself with more freedom, impartiality, and truth. Paul calls himself aman in Christ. He enjoyed the great privilege to lose sight of his own personality,and only to view himself in the attire of his Surety. He had a special reason for callinghimself on this occasion a man in Christ. He wishes in doing so to meet thequestion how it came to pass that he was so highly honoured; it was because he was aman in Christ that before him the gates of paradise must fly open. He says, I wascaught up; according to the word used in the original, I was forcibly carried away.He was caught up from the earth. But whither? To some blessed star, from whence,as Moses viewed the promised land, so he might view the land of glory glimmering inthe distance? Oh no, his flight went further. He was in the very heart of this land.How often in the dark seasons of his life had he looked with sighs to this distantregion! How often had he thought that he would willingly resign everything on earththat only a fleeting glance might be allowed him through the impenetrable veil whichcovers that land of immortal beauty! There he stood. The tumult of the world washushed around him. Oh what a life in those serene fields of light and love! In thosepalmy groves of everlasting peace what forms, what visions, what tones of praise!2. Was Paul then literally in heaven? Is there, in fact, a world of blessedness behindthe clouds? Truly I think that Paul was not the first to inform us of that. He says, Hewas caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful fora man to utter. And his meaning appears to be simply this: what he had heard and 11. seen during this visit to the other world was of such a peculiar kind that it wasabsolutely impossible to express it in human language. Oh yes, the apostle mighthave been cordially willing to have painted before our eyes an image of that blessedworld, but whence could he take the colours for the painting? Would he have takensomething from the light of the sun, from the blooming meadows of our earthlyspring, from the groves and solemn stillness of our summer mornings? Alas! hewould only have dipped his pencil in poor dull shades. All this the apostle felt, and hepreferred being silent. He might have been willing to describe to us how the saintsappeared. Oh, gladly would he have told us in what glory his Lord and Saviour thereappeared to him. But what could he say? But there is still another circumstancewhich perhaps gives us a greater idea of the glory of what Paul heard and felt in thethird heaven than even his silenceI mean the ardent longing of the apostle toreturn again to the blessedness that he had once enjoyed. But his wishes could not betaken into consideration. He was obliged to return to this dark earth and to thetoilsome path of his apostleship. But after his return his renunciation of the worldand its lusts was rendered complete. His conversation is henceforth in heaven. Paulknew that he could return to the blessedness he had beheld by no other path thandeath. Well, be it so, no hour was more longed for by him than that. What the apostlesaw on this occasion we certainly cannot see in the same way, but we may still beholdit in the mirror of an unimpeachable testimony. (F. W. Krummacher.)I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.Pauls visionHow did St. Paul come to speak of himself under the personality of another?1. Natural diffidence. For the more refined a man is the more he will avoid directmention of himself. All along he has been forced to speak of self. Fact after fact waswrung out.2. St. Paul speaks of a divided experience of two selves: one Paul in the third heaven,enjoying the beatific vision; another on earth, buffeted by Satan. The former hechose rather to regard as the Paul that was to be. He dwelt on the latter as the actualPaul, lest he should mistake himself in the midst of the heavenly revelations. Such adouble nature is in us all. In all there is an Adam and a Christan ideal and a real.Witness the strange discrepancy often between the writings of the poet or thesermons of the preacher and their actual lives. And yet in this there is no necessaryhypocrisy, for the one represents the mans aspiration, the other his attainment. Butthe apostle felt that it was dangerous to be satisfied with mere aspirations and finesayings, and therefore he chose to take the lowestthe actual selftreating thehighest as, for the time, another man (verse 5). Were the caterpillar to feel withinhimself the wings that are to be, and be haunted with instinctive forebodings of thetime when he shall hover about flowers and meadows, yet the wisdom of thatcaterpillar would be to remember his present business on the leaf, lest, losing himselfin dreams, he should never become a winged insect at all.I. The time when this vision took place. The date is vagueabout fourteen years ago.Some have identified it with that recorded (Act_9:1-43) at his conversion. But1. The words in that transaction were not unlawful to utter. They are three timesrecorded. 12. 2. There was no doubt as to St. Pauls own locality in that vision. So far from beingexalted, he was stricken to the ground.3. The vision was of an humbling character: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?II. Paul had known many such visions (verse 7).1. This marks out the man. Indeed, to comprehend the visions we must comprehendthe man. For God does not reveal His mysteries to men of selfish or hard orphlegmatic temperaments, but to those of spiritual sensitiveness. There arephysically certain sensitivenesses to sound and colour that qualify men to becomegifted musicians and paintersso spiritually there are certain susceptibilities, and onthese God bestows strange gifts, sights, and feelings not to be uttered in humanlanguage. The Jewish temperamentits fervour, moral sense, veneration,indomitable will, adapted it to be the organ of revelation.2. Now all this was, in its fulness, in St. Paul. A heart, a brain, and a soul of fire; allhis life a suppressed volcano; his acts living things with hands and feet, his wordshalf battles. A man, consequently, of terrible inward conflicts (read Rom_7:1-25.).You will find there no dull metaphysics; all is intensely personal. So, too, in Act_16:1-40. He had no abstract perception of Macedonias need of the gospel. To his soul aman of Macedonia cries, Come over and help us. Again (Act_18:1-28), a messagecame in a vision. St. Pauls life was with God, his very dreams were of God. He saw aForm which others did not see, and heard a Voice which others could not hear (Act_27:23).3. But such things are seen and heard under certain conditions. Many of St. Paulsvisions were when he was(1) Fasting. Fulness of bread and abundance of idleness are not theconditions in which we can see the things of God.(2) In the midst of trial. In the prison, during the shipwreck, while the thornwas in his flesh.4. This was the experience of Christ Himself. God does not lavish His choicest gifts,but reserves them.5. Yet though inspiration is granted in its fulness only to rare, choice spirits, indegree it belongs to all Christians. There have been moments, surely, in ourexperience, when the vision of God was clear. They were not moments of fulness orsuccess. In some season of desertion you have in solitary longing seen the sky-ladderas Jacob saw it, or in childish purityfor Heaven lies around us in our infancyheard a voice as Samuel did; or in feebleness of health, when the weight of the bodilyframe was taken off, Faith brightened her eagle eye, and saw far into the tranquilthings of death; or in prayer you have been conscious of a Hand in yours, and aVoice, and you could almost feel the Eternal Breath upon your brow.III. The things seen are unutterable.1. They are unspeakable because they are untranslatable into language. The fruitsof the Spiritlove, joy, peace, etc.how can these be explained in words? Our feelings, convictions, aspirations,devotions, what sentences of earth can express them? In Revelations 4 John in highsymbolic language attempts, but inadequately, to shadow forth the glory which hisspirit realised, but which his sense saw not. For heaven is not scenery, nor anything 13. appreciable by ear or eye; heaven is God felt.2. They are not lawful for a man to utter. Christian modesty forbids. There aretransfiguration moments, bridal hours of the soul, and not easily forgiven are thosewho would utter the secrets of its high intercourse with its Lord. You cannot discusssuch subjects without vulgarising them. God dwells in the thick darkness. Silenceknows more of Him than speech. His name is secret, therefore beware how youprofane His stillness. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. To each ofHis servants He giveth a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which noman knoweth save he that receiveth it. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)St. Pauls rapture and thorn in the fleshPaul probably refers to the trance, or vision, of Act_22:1-30.I. Some explanation of this remarkable passage.1. The nature of the vision. It was in a state in which the mental faculties, apart fromthe senses, are so engrossed by certain objects as to render the mind incapable ofattending to any other. Such raptures were one of the ancient modes of inspiration.God spake to Moses, David, and the prophets in visions, and their return in the daysof the apostles served to evince the identity of the two dispensations in their originand authority.2. The special communications made in this vision. If the third heaven is the placewhere God immediately resides, we are sure that paradise is the same, from thepromise to the penitent malefactor. There Paul heard unspeakable words, etc.Doubtless the inhabitants of heaven conceive of objects in a manner as superior toour modes of conception as are the objects themselves to those of earth. How, then,could they communicate their conceptions to beings of our limited and dull faculties!In like manner the apostle on his return to his former state would find aninsurmountable impediment to the communications of what he had seen and heard.But though not to be described in the language of sense, it would appear from theeffect left on his mind that the revelation was of the most exhilarating nature; a tonehad been given to his character, and a new and seraphic passion had been kindled inhis soul. He felt for ever afterwards as a man to whom heaven was not altogetherfuture.3. The affliction with which he was immediately visited.II. The general instruction which it furnishes. Note1. The wisdom and goodness of God in those severe afflictions with which eveneminent saints may be visited.2. The Divine nature of Christ, and His immediate presidency over the affairs of thewhole Church. This Divine Saviour is particularly employed about the mission of Hisservants, their qualifications for office, their trials, supports, and deliverance. Hencethe propriety of direct address to Him in critical circumstances, while, in theordinary course of affairs, the ultimate object of address is the Almighty Father.3. The existence of paradise and a third heaven as the receptacle of the souls ofbelievers. What ground, then, for the notion of a sleepy condition of the soul afterdeath? (J. Leifchild, D. D.) 14. 10. PULPIT COMMENTARY, 2 Corinthians 12:1 - Visions and revelationsI will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. The apostle had been dwelling onhis personal experiences. He had been compelled by the evil things that were said ofhim to refer to his own life, conduct, and sufferings for Christ's sake, in self-vindication.He would, however, not have spoken one word about these things if thehonour of Christ had not been bound up with his claim to apostleship. He had nowsaid everything that needed to be said about himself; and it was every way pleasanterand healthier to turn away from his own doings and sufferings, and to fix his heartand his thoughts upon what God had done for him. Upon the Divine visions andrevelations given to him he in great part rested his apostolic claim. To him an apostlewas, just what a prophet of the olden time had been, a man who had direct andpersonal communications with the Lord Jesus, and received instructionsimmediately from him. For such instances in St. Paul's career, see Acts 9:4-6; Acts16:9; Acts 18:9; Acts 22:18; Acts 23:1-35. 11; Acts 27:23; Galatians 2:2; and thescenes recorded in the chapter now before us. This claim to direct revelation theenemies of St. Paul denied, and laughed to scorn his pretensions as the indications ofinsanity. Dean Plumptre tells us that in the Clementine Homilie'sa kind ofcontroversial romance representing the later views of the Ebionite or Judaizingparty, in which most recent critics have recognized a thinly veiled attempt to presentthe characteristic features of St. Paul under the pretence of an attack on SimonMagus, just as the writer of a political novel in modern times might draw theportraits of his rivals under fictitious nameswe find stress laid on the allegedclaims of Simon to have had communications from the Lord through visions anddreams and outward revelations; and this claim is contrasted with that of Peter, whohad personally followed Christ during his ministry on earth. What was said then, inthe form of this elaborate attack, may well have been said before by the moremalignant advocates of the same party. The charge of insanity was one easy to make,and of all charges, perhaps, the most difficult to refute by one who gloried in thefacts which were alleged as its foundationwho did see visions and did 'speak withtongues' in the ecstasy of adoring rapture. Compare the expression, whether we bebeside ourselves, in 2 Corinthians 5:13. When the particular visions came to whichreference is made in the passage before us cannot certainly be known. St. Paul onlyaids us by referring to the time as about fourteen years ago. The suggestion weprefer is that they were granted during the time of his fainting after the stoning atLystra, and were the Divine comfortings of that hour of sorest peril and distress(Acts 14:19).I. VISIONS AND REVELATIONS ARE AGENCIES WHICH GOD HAS ALWAYSUSED. They do not belong to any one age. We have no right to say that they arelimited to ancient times. There have always been the true and the counterfeit; but thetrue should not be missed or denied because the false have been found out. There aregood gold coins, or men would not trouble to make spurious sovereigns. Fanaticismdeludes its victims into imaginary visions, but souls that are kin with God, and opento him, can receive communications from him. Illustrate from all ages, e.g. Noah,Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Joseph, 15. aged Simeon, Zacharias, etc. So in the Christian age we find visions granted toCornelius, Philip, Peter, and John, as well as Paul, and traces of prophets, such asAgabus, and even of prophetesses. St. Paul's visions were probably of the nature of atrance; the mind being absorbed in contemplation may be prepared to receive Divinerevealings. It is right to subject all claims to visions to careful scrutiny, and thethings communicated to men at such times must be tested by their harmony with thewritten revelation; but we need not refuse to recognize the truth that God has directrelations to souls now as certainly as in past ages. Both truth and duty may still bedirectly revealed.II. THEY COME TO CERTAIN PREPARED INDIVIDUALS. Not to masses, not toChurches, not to meetings. The vision is for individuals, who are thus made agents inthe communication to men of the Divine thought and will. F.W. Robertson says, Tocomprehend the visions we must comprehend the man. For God gives visions at hisown will, and according to certain and fixed laws. He does not inspire every one. Hedoes not reveal his mysteries to men of selfish, or hard, or phlegmatic temperaments.He gives preternatural communications to those whom he prepares beforehand by apeculiar spiritual sensitiveness. There are, physically, certain sensitivenesses tosound and colour that qualify men to become gifted musicians and painters; so,spiritually, there are certain strong original susceptibilities (I say original, as derivedfrom God, the origin of all), and on these God bestows strange gifts and sights, deepfeelings not to be uttered in human language, and immeasurable by the ordinarystandard. Such a man was St. Paula very wondrous nature, the Jewish nature in allits strength. We know that the Jewish temperament fitted men to be the organs of arevelation. Its fervour, its moral sense, its veneration, its indomitable will, alladapted the highest sons of the nation for receiving hidden truths andcommunicating them to others.III. THEY COME ON PARTICULAR OCCASIONS. By the law of Divine economy,only when they are the precise thing demanded, the only agency that will efficientlymeet the case.IV. THEY COME IN GRACIOUSLY ADAPTED FORMS. Heard voices sometimes, atother times dreams, ocular visions, symbols, trances, and mental panoramas. Closeby showing that, because the modern mode is direct to souls, immediate to theshaping of men's thoughts, and not through symbols, or dreams, or visions, we neednot lose the conviction that, upon due occasions still, God gives to some amongst usinsight and revelation of his truth.R.T.11. PULPIT COMMENTARY, I. APOSTOLIC PSYCHOLOGY. The words revealcertain ideas which Paul had concerning the human mind. He had the idea:1. That whilst here it is capable of existing separate from the body. Whether in thebody, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell. If he had been certainthat the soul could not exist whilst here apart from the body, would he have spokenthus? And who is not conscious of the mind having experiences in which the body 16. does not participate? Paul speaks of himself as entering regions far away.(a) The atmospheric, There the clouds travel and perform their functions.(b) The starry. There the sun, moon, and stars appear.(c) The heavens that lie beyond the heavenly orbs; where God and his holy angels aresupposed to have their special residence. Up to this third heaven Paul was caught.2. That whilst here it is capable of receiving extraordinary revelations apart from thebody. Heard unspeakable words. Things of the soul may be unutterable either fromnecessity or from impropriety. The deepest things of the heart are unutterable in anylanguage. Perhaps what Paul saw and heard in the spirit was neither possible norproper to communicate. There are but few of us who have not received impressionsof distant things. We are often caught away to distant scenes, and see and hearextraordinary things.3. That whilst here it may exist apart from the body and the man not know it.Whether in the body, I cannot tell. He was so charged with spiritual things that hehad lost all consciousness of matter and his relations to it. The man whose soul isflooded with the higher elements of being does not know for the time whether he isin the body or out of the body.4. That wherever or however it exists it constitutes the man. I knew a man inChrist. That which had these wonderful revelations he regarded as the man. To theapostle the body was the costume of the man, which he put on at birth and took off atdeath. In fact, he regarded the body as his not him, the soul as himself.II. APOSTOLIC PIETY. There are three things concerning piety here.1. Humility. That the man of whom Paul here speaks is himself scarcely admits of adoubt. Why should he speak of himself in the third person? It is because of thatmodesty of nature which is ever the characteristic of a truly great soul. Humility is anessential attribute of piety.2. Christism. A man in Christ. To be in Christ is to live in his ideas, character,spirit, as the atmosphere of being. He who lives in the spirit of Christ becomes aman.3. Transport. His soul was borne away in ecstasy. The time when the revelationoccurred is specifiedfourteen years ago. Strange that he did not speak of it 17. before. Piety has its hours of ravishments, ecstasies, and transfigurations.2 Corinthians 12:6-10 - Soul schooling.For though, etc. These words teach us several things concerning soul discipline.I. THAT THE EXERCISE OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE IS EXPEDIENT FOR THEBEST OF MEN. Paul required it. He says, Lest I should be exalted above measure.1. Pride is a great spiritual evil. This is implied in the discipline with which theapostle was now visited. To be exalted above measure [or, 'overmuch'] is, of course,to be proud, and to be proud is to be in a position inimical to soul progress.2. Good men have sometimes great temptations to pride. Paul's temptation seems tohave arisen from the abundance of the revelation of which he speaks.II. THAT THE MODE OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE IS SOMETIMES VERYPAINFUL. Paul was visited with a thorn in the flesh. What the thorn was is aquestion for speculation; our object is practical. Two things deserve notice here.1. That suffering stands connected with Satan. This painful dispensation was amessenger from Satan. The great original sinner is the father of suffering.2. Both suffering and Satan are under the direction of God. He uses them as hisinstruments for good. Satan himself is the servant of the Holy One.III. THAT THE MEANS OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE ARE SOMETIMESMISUNDERSTOOD. Paul prays to be delivered from that thorn in the flesh whichwas sent for his good, and he does so frequentlythrice. Notice:1. The ignorance which sometimes marks our prayers. We often pray against our owninterests. There are some blessings which are positively promised by God, such aspardon for sin, etc., for which we may pray incessantly; and there are others whichwe may esteem desirable, but which are not promised. These we must seek insubmission to his will.2. The kindness of God in not always answering our prayers. He knows what is best.The great Father may refuse the cry of his children for toys here, but he will givethem estates in the great hereafter. 18. IV. THAT THE SUPPORTS UNDER SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE ARE ALWAYSABUNDANT. My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect inweakness. Observe:1. The nature of the support. Strength. What matters the weight of the burden itthe strength is equal to bear it with ease?2. The principle of the support. Grace. It comes, not from merit, but from gracefree and unbounded.3. The influence of the support. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in myinfirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Rest upon me. Spread overme like a tent to screen me from the scorching sun. I glory in my infirmities. Thecup may be bitter, but it has curative virtues. Tempests may toss, but those stormswill purify the atmosphere round the heart and bear us away from scenes on whichour hearts are set. All prayer is answered when the mind of the suppliant is broughtinto cordial submission to the Divine will.2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years agowas caught up to the third heaven. Whether it wasin the body or out of the body I do not knowGod knows.1. JAMISON, above--rather, simply fourteen years ago. This Epistle was writtenA.D. 55-57. Fourteen years before will bring the vision to A.D. 41-43, the time of hissecond visit to Jerusalem (Ac 22:17). He had long been intimate with theCorinthians, yet had never mentioned this revelation before: it was not a matterlightly to be spoken of.I cannot tell--rather as Greek, I know not. If in the body, he must have beencaught up bodily; if out of the body, as seems to be Paul's opinion, his spirit musthave been caught up out of the body. At all events he recognizes the possibility ofconscious receptivity in disembodied spirits.caught up-- (Ac 8:39).to the third heaven--even to, c. These raptures (note the plural, visions, 19. revelations, 2Co 12:1) had two degrees: first he was caught up to the thirdheaven, and from thence to Paradise (2Co 12:4) [CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA,Miscellanies, 5.427], which seems to denote an inner recess of the third heaven[BENGEL] (Lu 23:43; Re 2:7). Paul was permitted not only to hear the things ofParadise, but to see also in some degree the things of the third heaven (comparevisions, 2Co 12:1). The occurrence TWICE of whether in the body . . . I know not,God knoweth, and of lest I should be exalted above measure, marks two stages inthe revelation. Ignorance of the mode does not set aside the certain knowledge ofthe fact. The apostles were ignorant of many things [BENGEL]. The first heaven isthat of the clouds, the air; the second, that of the stars, the sky; the third is spiritual(Eph 4:10).2. GUZIK Then why does he use the third person at all? Because Paul, in describingthis remarkable spiritual experience, is describing just the kind of thing that thesuper apostles among the Corinthian Christians would glory in. When he describedhis humble experiences in 2 Corinthians 11:23-30, he did not hesitate to write in thefirst person. No one would think he was glorifying himself as the super apostlesdid. But here, he walks more carefully. He is doing every thing he can to relate thisexperience without bringing glory to himself.Fourteen years ago: This dating by Paul does little to help us know when thishappened, because scholars are not in agreement regarding when 2Corinthians was written.i. Suggestions have been made the experience he describes happenedduring Paul's ten years in Syria and Cilicia (Galatians 1:21-2:1), at hisstoning in Lystria (Acts 14:19), or during his time in Antioch (Acts 13:1-3).ii. The important thing to notice is that Paul kept quiet about this for fourteen years,and now he mentions it reluctantly.3. BARESVerse 2. I knew a man in Christ. I was acquainted with a Christian; the phrase, inChrist, meaning nothing more than that he was united to Christ, or was a Christian.See Romans 16:7. The reason why Paul did not speak of this directly as a visionwhich he had himself seen, was probably that he was accused of boasting, and hehad admitted that it did not become him to glory. But though it did not become himto boast directly, yet he could tell them of a man concerning whom there would beno impropriety evidently in boasting. It is not uncommon, moreover, for a man tospeak of himself in the third person. Thus Caesar in his Commentaries uniformlyspeaks of himself. And so John in his Gospel speaks of himself, John 13:23,24;19:26; 21:20. John did it on account of his modesty, because he would not appear toput himself forward, and because the mention of his own name, as connected withthe friendship of the Saviour in the remarkable manner in which he enjoyed it, mighthave savoured of pride. For a similar reason Paul may have been unwilling to 20. mention his own name here; and he may have abstained from referring to thisoccurrence elsewhere because it might savour of pride, and might also excite theenvy or ill-will of others. Those who have been most favoured with spiritualenjoyments will not be the most ready to proclaim it. They will cherish theremembrance in order to excite gratitude in their own hearts, and support them intrial; they will not blazon it abroad as if they were more the favourites of Heaventhan others are. That this refers to Paul himself is evident for the following reasons:(1) His argument required that he should mention something that had occurred tohimself. Anything that had occurred to another would not have been pertinent.(2.) He applies it directly to himself, (@Co 12:7,) when he says that God tookeffectual measures that he should not be unduly exalted in view of the abundantrevelations bestowed on him.About fourteen years ago. On what occasion, or where this occurred, or why heconcealed the remarkable fact so long, and why there is no other allusion to it, isunknown; and conjecture is useless. If this epistle was written, as is commonlysupposed, about the year 58, then this occurrence must have happened about theyear 44. This was several years after his conversion, and of course this does not referto the trance mentioned in Acts 9:9, at the time when he was converted. Dr. Bensonsupposes that this vision was made to him when he was praying in the temple afterhis return to Jerusalem, when he was directed to go from Jerusalem to the Gentiles,(Acts 22:17,) and that it was intended to support him in the trials which he wasabout to endure. There can be little danger of error in supposing that its object wasto support him in those remarkable trials, and that God designed to impart to himsuch views of heaven and its glory, and of the certainty that he would soon beadmitted there, as to support him in his sufferings, and make him willing to bear allthat should be laid upon him. God often gives to his people some clear and elevatedspiritual comforts before they enter into trials, as well as while in them; he preparesthem for them before they come. This vision Paul had kept secret for fourteen years.He had doubtless often thought of it; and the remembrance of that glorious hour wasdoubtless one of the reasons why he bore trials so patiently, and was willing toendure so much. But before this he had had no occasion to mention it. He had otherproofs in abundance that he was called to the work of an apostle; and to mentionthis would savour of pride and ostentation. It was only when he was compelled torefer to the evidences of his apostolic mission that he refers to it here.Whether in the body, I cannot tell. That is, I do not pretend to explain it. I do notknow how it occurred. With the fact he was acquainted; but how it was broughtabout he did not know. Whether the body was caught up to heaven; whether the soulwas for a time separated from the body; or whether the scene passed before themind in a vision, so that he seemed to have been caught up to heaven, he does notpretend to know. The evident idea is, that at the time he was in a state ofinsensibility in regard to surrounding objects, and was unconscious of what wasoccurring, as if he had been dead. Where Paul confesses his own ignorance of whatoccurred to himself, it would be vain for us to inquire; and the question how this wasdone is immaterial. No one can doubt that God had power, if he chose, to transport 21. the body to heaven; or that he had power for a time to separate the soul from thebody; or that he had power to represent to the mind so clearly the view of theheavenly world, that he would appear to see it. See Acts 7:56. It is clear only that helost all consciousness of anything about him at that time, and that he saw only thethings in heaven. It may be added here, however, that Paul evidently supposed thathis soul might be taken to heaven without the body, and that it might have separateconsciousness, and a separate existence. He was not, therefore, a materialist, and hedid not believe that the existence and consciousness of the soul was dependent onthe body.God knoweth. With the mode in which it was done, God only could be acquainted.Paul did not attempt to explain that. That was to him of comparatively littleconsequence, and he did not lose his time in a vain attempt to explain it. How happywould it be if all theologians were as ready to be satisfied with the knowledge of afact, and to leave the mode of explaining it with God, as this prince of theologianswas. Many a man would have busied himself with a vain speculation about the wayin which it was done; Paul was contented with the fact that it had occurred.Such an one caught up. The word which is here used (~arpazw~) means, to seizeupon, to snatch away as wolves do their prey, (John 10:12;) or to seize with avidityor eagerness, Matthew 11:12; or to carry away, to hurry off by force, orinvoluntarily. See Joh 6:15 Ac 8:39 23:10. In the case before us there is impliedthe idea that Paul was conveyed by a foreign force; or that he was suddenly seizedand snatched up to heaven. The word expresses the suddenness and the rapiditywith which it was done. Probably it was instantaneous, so that he appeared, at onceto be in heaven. Of the mode in which it was done, Paul has given no explanations;and conjecture would be useless.To the third heaven. The Jews sometimes speak of seven heavens, and Mohammedhas borrowed this idea from the Jews. But the Bible speaks of but three heavens;and among the Jews in the apostolic ages, also, the heavens were divided into three:(1.) The aerial, including the clouds and the atmosphere, the heavens above us, untilwe come to the stars.(2.) The starry heavens--the heavens in which the sun, moon, and stars appear to besituated.(3.) The heavens beyond the stars. That heaven was supposed to be the residence ofGod, of angels, and of holy spirits. It was this upper heaven, the dwelling-place ofGod, to which Paul was taken, and whose wonders he was permitted to behold--thisregion where God dwelt, where Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father,and where the spirits of the just were assembled. The fanciful opinions of the Jewsabout seven heavens may be seen detailed in Schoettgen or in Wetstein, by whomthe principal passages from the Jewish writings relating to the subject have beencollected. As their opinions throw no light on this passage, it is unnecessary to detailthem here.4. Calvin2. I knew a man in Christ As he was desirous to restrain himself withinbounds, he merely singles out one instance, and that, too, he handles insuch a way as to show, that it is not from inclination that he brings itforward; for why does he speak in the person of another rather than in hisown? It is as though he had said, I should have preferred to be silent, I 22. should have preferred to keep the whole matter suppressed within my ownmind, but those persons 880880 Ces opiniastres ambitieux ; Thoseambitious, obstinate persons. will not allow me. I shall mention it,therefore, as it were in a stammering way, that it may be seen that I speakthrough constraint. Some think that the clause in Christ is introduced forthe purpose of confirming what he says. I view it rather as referring to thedisposition, so as to intimate that Paul has not here an eye to himself, butlooks to Christ exclusively.When he confesses, that he does not know whether he was in the body, or outof the body, he expresses thereby the more distinctly the greatness of therevelation. For he means, that God dealt with him in such a way, 881881 QueDieu a tellement besongne et precede enuers luy ; That God had in such amanner wrought and acted towards him. that he did not himself understandthe manner of it. Nor should this appear to us incredible, inasmuch as hesometimes manifests himself to us in such a way, that the manner of his doingso is, nevertheless, hid from our view. 882882 Est incomprehensible a nostresens ; Is incomprehensible to our mind. At the same time, this does not, inany degree, detract from the assurance of faith, which rests simply on thissingle point that we are aware that God speaks to us. Nay more, let us learnfrom this, that we must seek the knowledge of those things only that arenecessary to be known, and leave other things to God. (Deuteronomy 29:29.)He says, then, that he does not know, whether he was wholly taken up souland body into heaven, or whether it was his soul only, that was caught upFourteen years ago Some 883883 Ne se contentans point de ceci ; Notcontenting themselves with this. enquire, also, as to the place, but it does notbelong to us to satisfy their curiosity. 884884 Mais nous nauons pointdelibere, et aussi il nest pas en nous de satisfaire a leur curiosite ; But wehave not determined as to this, and it does not belong to us to satisfy theircuriosity. The Lord manifested himself to Paul in the beginning by a vision,when he designed to convert him from Judaism to the faith of the gospel, but hewas not then admitted as yet into those secrets, as he needed even to beinstructed by Ananias in the first rudiments. 885885 Es premierscommencemens de la religion ; In the first elements of religion. (Acts9:12.) That vision, therefore, was nothing but a preparation, with the view ofrendering him teachable. It may be, that, in this instance, he refers to thatvision, of which he makes mention also, according to Lukes narrative. (Acts22:17.) There is no occasion, however, for our giving ourselves much trouble asto these conjectures, as we see that Paul himself kept silence respecting it forfourteen years, 886886 This vision Paul had kept secret for fourteen years. Hehad doubtless often thought of it; and the remembrance of that glorious hourwas doubtless one of the reasons why he bore trials so patiently, and was willingto endure so much. But before this he had had no occasion to mention it. Hehad other proofs in abundance that he was called to the work of an Apostle; andto mention this would savour of pride and ostentation. It was only when he wascompelled to refer to the evidences of his apostolic mission that he refers to ithere. Barnes. Ed. and would not have said one word in reference to it, hadnot the unreasonableness of malignant persons constrained him. 23. Even to the third heaven. He does not here distinguish between the differentheavens in the manner of the philosophers, so as to assign to each planet itsown heaven. On the other hand, the number three is made use of ( )by way of eminence, to denote what is highest and most complete. Nay more,the term heaven, taken by itself, denotes here the blessed and glorious kingdomof God, which is above all the spheres, 887887 Par dessus tons les cieux ; Above all the heavens. and the firmament itself, and even the entire frame-workof the world. Paul, however, not contenting himself with the simple term,888888 Non content de nommer simplement le ciel ; Not contented withsimply employing the term heaven. adds, that he had reached even thegreatest height, and the innermost recesses. For our faith scales heaven andenters it, and those that are superior to others in knowledge get higher indegree and elevation, but to reach the third heavens has been granted to veryfew.5. CLARKEFourteen years agoOn what occasion or in what place this transaction took place we cannot tell; thereare many conjectures among learned men concerning it, but of what utility can theybe when every thing is so palpably uncertain? Allowing this epistle to have beenwritten some time in the year 57, fourteen years counted backward will lead thistransaction to the year 42 or 43, which was about the time that Barnabas broughtPaul from Tarsus to Antioch, Acts 11:25,26, and when he and Paul were sent by theChurch of Antioch with alms to the poor Christians at Jerusalem. It is very possiblethat, on this journey, or while in Jerusalem, he had this vision, which was intendedto be the means of establishing him in the faith, and supporting him in the manytrials and difficulties through which he was to pass. This vision the apostle had keptsecret for fourteen years.Whether in the body I cannot tellThat the apostle was in an ecstasy or trance, something like that of Peter, Acts 10:9,there is reason to believe; but we know that being carried literally into heaven waspossible to the Almighty. But as he could not decide himself, it would be ridiculous inus to attempt it.Caught up to the third heaven.He appeared to have been carried up to this place; but whether bodily he could nottell, or whether the spirit were not separated for the time, and taken up to the thirdheaven, he could not tell.The third heaven-The Jews talk of seven heavens, and Mohammed has received thesame from them; but these are not only fabulous but absurd. I shall enumeratethose of the Jews.1. The YELUM, or curtain, - Which in the morning is folded up, and in the eveningstretched out. Isaiah 40:22: He stretcheth out the heavens as a CURTAIN, andspreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.2. The firmament, or EXPANSE, In which the sun, moon, stars, and constellationsare fixed. Genesis 1:17: And God placed them in the FIRMAMENT of heaven.3. The CLOUDS, or AETHER, Where the mill-stones are which grind the manna forthe righteous. Psalms 78:23, Though he had commended the CLOUDS from above,and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down manna, 24. 4. The HABITATION, Where Jerusalem, and the temple, and the altar, wereconstructed and where Michael the great prince stands and offers sacrifices. 1 Kings8:13: I have surely built thee a HOUSE TO DWELL IN, a settled place for thee toabide in for ever. But where is heaven so called? Answer: In Isaiah 63:15: Lookdown from HEAVEN, and behold from the HABITATION, , of thy holiness.5. The DWELLING-PLACE, Where the troops of angels sing throughout the night, butare silent in the day time, because of the glory of the Israelites. Psalms 42:8: TheLord will command his loving-kindness in the day time, and in the night his songshall be with me. But how is it proved that this means heaven? Answer: FromDeuteronomy 26:15. Look down from thy holy habitation, the DWELLING-PLACE ofthy holiness; and from heaven, and bless thy people Israel.6. The FIXED RESIDENCE, Where are the treasures of snow and hail, the repositoryof noxious dews, of drops, and whirlwinds; the grotto of exhalations, heavens thusdenominated? Answer: In 1 Kings 8:39,49, Then hear thou in HEAVEN thyDWELLING-PLACE, thy FIXED RESIDENCE.7. The ARABOTH, Where are justice, judgment, mercy, the treasures of life; peaceand blessedness; the souls of the righteous, the souls and spirits which are reservedfor the bodies yet to be formed, and the dew by which God is to vivify the dead.Psalms 89:14, ; Isaiah 59:17; ; Psalms 36:9, ; Judges 6:24; ; Psalms 24:4;1 Samuel 25:29; ; Isaiah 57:20: All of which are termed Araboth, Psalms 68:4. Extolhim who rideth on the heavens, ba ARABOTH, by his name Jah.All this is sufficiently unphilosophical, and in several cases ridiculous.In the sacred writings three heavens only are mentioned. The first is the atmosphere,what appears to be intended by rekia, the firmament or expansion, Genesis 1:6. Thesecond, the starry heaven; where are the sun, moon, planets, and stars; but thesetwo are often expressed under the one term shamayim, the two heavens, orexpansions, and in Genesis 1:17, they appear to be both expressed by rekiahashshamayim, the firmament of heaven. And, thirdly, the place of the blessed, orthe throne of the Divine glory, probably expressed by the words shemeihashshamayim, the heavens of heavens. But on these subjects the Scripture affordsus but little light; and on this distinction the reader is not desired to rely.Much more may be seen in Schoettgen, who has exhausted the subject; and who hasshown that ascending to heaven, or being caught up to heaven, is a form of speechamong the Jewish writers to express the highest degrees of inspiration. They oftensay of Moses that he ascended on high, ascended on the firmament, ascended toheaven; where it is evident they mean only by it that he was favoured with thenearest intimacy with God, and the highest revelations relative to his will,understand St. Paul thus, it will remove much of the difficulty from this place; andperhaps the unspeakable words, 2 Corinthians 12:4, are thus to be understood. Hehad the most sublime communications from God, such as would be improper tomention, though it is very likely that we have the substance of these in his epistles.Indeed, the two epistles before us seem, in many places, to be the effect of mostextraordinary revelations.6. GILL, I knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago,.... Which is to beunderstood of himself, as appears from 2Co_12:7, where he speaks in the first person;and the reason why he here speaks in the third, is to show his modesty and humility, andhow much he declined vain glory and popular applause; and whilst he is speaking ofhimself, studies as it were to conceal himself from being the person designed, and to 25. draw off the mind of the reader from him to another person; though another cannot beintended, for it would not have been to his purpose, yea, quite beside it, when heproposes to come to visions and revelations he had of the Lord, to have instanced in therapture of another. Moreover, the full and certain knowledge he had of this man, of theplace he was caught up to, and of the things he there heard, best agrees with him; as alsohis attesting, in such a solemn way, his ignorance of the manner of this rapture, whetherin the body or out of the body, and which he repeats and refers to the knowledge of God,clearly shows he must mean himself; besides, it would otherwise have been no instanceof any vision of his, nor would the rapture of another have at all affected his character,commendation, and praise, or given him any occasion of glorying as this did: though hedid not choose to take it, as is clear by his saying that if he gloried of it he should not be afool, yet forbore, lest others should entertain too high an opinion of him; and after all, hewas in some danger of being elated with this vision along with others, that the followingsore temptation was permitted, to prevent his being exalted with it above measure: andwhen he calls this person, meaning himself, a man, it is not to distinguish him from anangel, whose habitation is in the third heaven, and so no wonderful thing to be foundthere; or from any other creature; nor perhaps only to express his sex, a man, and not awoman, though the Syriac version uses the word , peculiar to the masculine sex; butmerely to design a person, and it is all one as if it had been said, I knew a person, or Iknew one in Christ: and the phrase in Christ, is not to be connected with the wordknow, as if the sense was, that he called Christ to witness the truth of what he wasabout to say, and that what he should say was not with a view to his own glory, but to theglory and honour of Christ only; but it is to be connected with the word man, anddenotes his being in Christ, and that either, as Dr. Hammond thinks, in a singular andextraordinary manner; as John is said to be in the spirit, Rev_1:10, that is, in anecstasy; and so here this man was in the Spirit of Christ, and transported by him to seevisions, and have revelations; or rather it intends a spiritual being in Christ, union tohim, the effect of which is communion with him. The date offourteen years ago, may refer either to the time when the apostle first had theknowledge of his being in Christ, which was at his conversion; he was in Christ from alleternity, being given to him, chosen in him, loved by him; set as a seal upon his heart, aswell as engraven on the palms of his hands, and represented by him, and in him, in theeverlasting covenant; and so in time, at his crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection,ascension, and session at the right hand of God; in consequence of all which, when theset time was come, he became a new creature, was converted and believed in Christ, andthen he knew himself to be in him; he was in him secretly before, now openly; and thiswas about fourteen years before the writing of this epistle; the exact time of hisconversion might well be known and remembered by him, it being in such anextraordinary manner: or also this date may refer to the time of his rapture, which somehave thought was some time within the three days after his conversion, when he waswithout sight, and neither ate nor drank; some have thought it to be eight years after hisconversion; but the most probable opinion is, that it was not at Damascus, but when hewas come again to Jerusalem, and was praying in the temple, and was in a trance orecstasy, Act_22:17, though the difference there is among chronologers, and theuncertainty of their conjectures, both as to the time of the apostle's conversion, and thewriting of this epistle, makes it very difficult to determine this point. They that make thisrapture to be at the time of his conversion, seem to be furthest off of the truth of things;for whether his conversion be placed in the 34th year of Christ, as some, or in the 35th,as others, or in the 36th; and this epistle be thought to be written either in the 56th, or 26. 58th, or 60th, the date of fourteen years will agree with neither: they indeed make thingsto agree together best, who place his conversion in the year 36, make this rapture to beeight years after, in the year 44, and this epistle to be written in the year 58. Dr.Lightfoot puts the conversion of the apostle in the year 34, the rapture of him into thethird heaven, in the year 43, at the time of the famine in the reign of Claudius, Act_11:28, when he was in a trance at Jerusalem, Act_22:17, and the writing of this epistle inthe year 57. That great chronologer, Bishop Usher, places Paul's conversion in the year35, his rapture in the year 46, and the writing of this epistle in the year 60. So that uponthe whole it is hard to say when this rapture was; and it may be, it was at neither of thevisions recorded in the Scripture, which the apostle had, but at some other time nowhereelse made mention of: when, as he here says,such an one was caught up to the third heaven, the seat of the divine Majesty,and the residence of the holy angels; where the souls of departed saints go immediatelyupon their dissolution; and the bodies and souls of those who have been translated,caught up, and raised already, are; and where the glorified body of Christ is and will be,until his second coming. This is called the third heaven, in respect to the airy andstarry heavens. The apostle refers to a distinction among the Jews of , the supreme heaven, the middle heaven, and the lower heaven (f); andwho also make a like division of worlds, and which they call , the supreme world, and the middle world, and the lower world (g); andsometimes (h) the world of angels, the world of the orbs, and the world of them below;and accordingly the Cabalistic doctors talk of three worlds; , the thirdworld, they say (i), is the supreme world, hidden, treasured, and shut up, which nonecan know; as it is written, eye hath not seen, c. and is the same with the apostle'sthird heaven. The state and condition in which he was during this rapture is expressedby the following words, put into a parenthesis,whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell,God knoweth: whether his soul remained in his body, and he was caught up soul andbody into heaven, as Elijah was carried thither soul and body in a chariot with horses offire; or whether his soul was out of his body, and he was disembodied for a time, as Philothe Jew (k) says that Moses was , without the body, during his stay of fortydays and as many nights in the mount; or whether this was not all in a visionary way, asJohn was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and Ezekiel was taken by a lock of his head,and lifted up by the Spirit between earth and heaven, and brought in the visions of Godto Jerusalem, cannot be said. The apostle did not know himself, and much less can anyother be able to say how it was; it is best with him to refer and leave it to the omniscientGod; one of the four persons the Jews say entered into paradise, who are hereaftermentioned in See Gill on 2Co_12:4, is said to have his mind snatched away in a divinerapture (l); that is, he was not himself, he knew not where he was, or whether in thebody or out, as says the apostle.7. HENRY, The apostle was pained with a thorn in the flesh, and buffeted with amessenger of Satan, 2Co_12:7. We are much in the dark what this was, whether somegreat trouble or some great temptation. Some think it was an acute bodily pain orsickness; others think it was the indignities done him by the false apostles, and theopposition he met with from them, particularly on the account of his speech, which was 27. contemptible. However this was, God often brings this good out of evil, that thereproaches of our enemies help to hide pride from us; and this is certain, that what theapostle calls a thorn in his flesh was for a time very grievous to him: but the thornsChrist wore for us, and with which he was crowned, sanctify and make easy all thethorns in the flesh we may at any time be afflicted with; for he suffered, being tempted,that he might be able to succour those that are tempted. Temptations to sin are mostgrievous thorns; they are messengers of Satan, to buffet us. Indeed it is a great grievanceto a good man to be so much as tempted to sin.2. The design of this was to keep the apostle humble: Lest he should be exalted abovemeasure, 2Co_12:7. Paul himself knew he had not yet attained, neither was alreadyperfect; and yet he was in danger of being lifted up with pride. If God love us, he willhide pride from us, and keep us from being exalted above measure; and spiritualburdens are ordered, to cure spiritual pride. This thorn in the flesh is said to be amessenger of Satan, which he did not send with a good design, but on the contrary, withill intentions, to discourage the apostle (who had been so highly favoured of God) andhinder him in his work. But God designed this for good, and he overruled it for good,and made this messenger of Satan to be so far from being a hindrance that it was a helpto the apostle.8. HAWKER, The Apostle saith, that he knew a man in Christ; and there can be nodoubt, from what he soon after added, concerning the abundance of revelations given tohim (2Co_12:7), that he meant himself. And it was no uncommon thing, in the Easternworld, for men to speak of themselves as in the third person. Indeed it is not unusualnow. And upon the present occasion, Paul studied to avoid all vain-glory. By theexpression itself of a man in Christ, it Is plain Paul meant one of Christs people, hisseed, his chosen. And of all these it must be said, that every individual of Christs seedwas in Christ from all eternity, for they were chosen in Christ before the foundation ofthe world, Eph_1:4. And all the purposes and grace designed the Church in time, withthe sure hope of eternal life in the world to come, were all given to every individual of theChurch , before the world began, 2Ti_1:9; Tit_1:2. Of Christs whole seed, it may be trulysaid, as was said by the Holy Ghost of Levi, being in the loins of his father Abraham,when Melchizedeck met him; so all of Christs seed were in Him, and He theireverlasting Father from all eternity, Heb_7:10; Isa_9:6. Hence those sweet promises:Isa_44:3; Isa_59:21.A man in Christ is one of the members of Christs mystical body: And having beenchosen in Christ, when Christ at the call of God; stood up the Head and Husband of hispeople before all worlds; so; in the time-state of the Church, every man in Christ isproved to belong to Christ by regeneration, adoption, justification, and grace. Hence, asPaul elsewhere saith, his life is hid with Christ in God; Col_3:3, a life of secresy, security,and interest in all that belongs to Christ. He is, therefore, properly called one in Christ,beheld in Christ, accepted in Christ, justified in Christ, sanctified in Christ, and must be ,finally, glorified in Christ. And thus the Holy Ghost testifieth: For whom he didforeknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that Hemight be the first born among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified,them he also glorified, Rom_8:29-30. Reader! are you a man in Christ?In relation to the time of this vision, with which Paul was favored, the Apostle dates itabout fourteen years before the time that he wrote this Epistle. And it appears, at theclose of the next chapter that he wrote it from Philippi; consequently, it must have been 28. about the year 60 when written, and fourteen years before would place the vision in theeleventh year after his conversion. Some have conceived that this vision is the same,which is spoken of when Paul arrived at Jerusalem, Act_22:17. But it should, seem tohave been a perfectly distinct revelation, and to a very different purport from that. Itappears to me, I confess, to have been a very glorious manifestation of the Person ofChrist, similar, or perhaps in greater degree, to those with which the saints of God in theOld Testament were favored, for the special comfort of those holy servants of the Lord,as well as for the general confirmation of the faith. But, certain it is, that the revelationwas so abundant and overwhelming, that during the continuance of it, the Apostle wasaltogether unconscious of any bodily sensations. See Eze_8:3; Dan_8:15; Dan_8:18;Dan_8:27; Rev_1:10.The paradise, or third heaven, the Apostle speaks of (for he calls it by both names,)evidently mean one and the same; and seems to be in conformity to the Jewish notions;who, when speaking at any time of heaven, were accustomed to call it paradise. Theredoth not, however, appear any reason assigned wherefore it is called the third heaven.The generally received opinion is, that it is the blessed habitation of the spirits of justmen made perfect, Luk_23:43. Several scriptures seem to favor the opinion, but nonedecide. And, as the Holy Ghost is silent on the subject, it becomes us to be also, and notpresume to be wise above what is written, Rev_6:9-10. Indeed there is nothing so weakas mens conjectures on subjects of this sublime nature. Pauls own account of this isthat had heard unspeakable words or such as a man cannot utter. How then can anotherexplain, or even form an idea of them? Reader! it is enough, for the exercise of faith, toreceive from God the Holy Ghost the record of the fact. Here then we ought to rest. It is asad misuse of the word of God, when upon any exercise of mystery we become reasonersinstead of believers.I pray the Reader to notice the Apostles words, when passing by all glorying on accountof the wonderful condescension of his Lord, he declares his wish, rather to glory in hisinfirmities. By which we are to suppos