ual experiences.” Paul was threatened with pride, exaltation above measure. Then too, it is not good for others to hear lest they start seeking “ it,” in stead of looking to “Him.” Transfiguration moun tain-tops may get us busy building tabernacles to house our visions when we need to see Jesus only. It would never do for some of us to visit third heaven. We would write books about it, put out posters about it, have it reproduced in technicolor, and measure everybody by whether or not they had been there. Such rarefied air makes us dizzy. Few can drink such heady wine without staggering. Even Paul needed a corrective. At any rate, the Christian’s supreme experience is not a trip to Third Heaven. Nor is it A MIGHTY DELIVERANCE. Paul was not delivered from his thorn but if he had been, he would have missed something greater. The roll-call of faith heroes in Hebrews Eleven lists many who were miraculously delivered but it also tells us of others who were not. They “ob tained a good report through faith” which is the main thing, after all. The Hebrew children be lieved God would save them from the fiery furnace but they made allowance for the possibility that he might not. If they had been spared the furnace, they would not have walked with the Son of Man, “ the fourth in the fire.” God does grant amazing answers to prayer for deliverance but they are not the Christian’s su preme experience. Paul, although he did not get rid of his thorn, out-traveled, out-preached, out- wrote and out-performed all his Gospel contem poraries. That is pretty spectacular, after all! What is the Christian’s supreme experience? “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Paul discovered what he already knew, that all he needed was in Christ. The factual became actual. It is not what we have but what we know we have that counts. A poor farmer discovered oil on his land. It had been there all the time. His father had toiled for years with a fortune beneath him but he never knew it. It is a matter of making what is yours your own. Joshua asked the children of Israel, “How long are ye slack to go to possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?” The Promised Land was theirs and yet it was not theirs until they possessed it. All things are ours in Christ but appreciation must become appropriation. “ The Lord is rich UNTO ALL THAT CALL UPON HIM. “ The supreme Chris tian experience is to get through to Christ Himself and find Him sufficient day by day. It may not sound as exciting to relate at prayer-meeting as a trip to third heaven or a mighty deliverance, but it is better to have heaven come down daily in Christ with us than to be caught up to third heaven once in a life time! As our day, so shall our strength be. We do not eat enough on Monday to last all week. THE KING'S BUSINESS
I n the T welfth C hapter o f Second Corinthi ans, Paul moves from height to depth within a few verses, then rises to a happy level. He relates an experience fourteen years past when he visited the third heaven. Then he drops from vision to valley and tells us of his thorn in the flesh from which he sought deliverance which was not grant ed. He asked for subtraction but got addition, more grace! Then he rises to glory in God’s strength made perfect in weakness, sufficient for height or depth or any other dimension. This passage ought to settle forever the ques tion, “What is the Christian’s greatest experience?” Certainly it is not A TRIP TO THE THIRD HEAVEN. There has been much useless discus sion here. Some ask, What did Paul hear? If he couldn’t tell it, how can we explain it? Was he in the body or in the spirit? He didn’t know and how can we? Where is the third heaven? Is it aerial, sidereal or spiritual? That is beside the point. It was a supernatural experience so let it go at that. We like visions, ecstasies, sensational raptures. The theatre-goer seeks escape from reality. The poet looks for it, contemplating beauty. The hippie tries a trip by LSD. God has granted some rare and rich experiences to men such as Paul enjoyed. We have heard some reports that were reliable. Others should be taken with more than a grain o f salt. Some purported visions sound more like nightmares. But all visits to third heaven are dangerous as even Paul dis covered. It has been said that “our spiritual ex perience can be impoverished by too many spirit- 10
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