ness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, received their dead raised to life again. All that is indeed mighty deliverance. But there follows immediately another host of saints who did not fare that way: they were tortured, had trial of mockings, scourg- ings, bonds and imprisonment, were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword; wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, af flicted, tormented. These were not granted deliver ance but they, like the others, obtained a good report through faith. That was the main thing; whether or not they were delivered was incidental. The Hebrew children, facing the fiery furnace, said, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will de liver us out of thine hand, 0 king. But if not, be it known unto thee, 0 king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Whether or not they were delivered from the furnace was not the supreme thing. To be faithful to God was paramount; all else was secondary. The Christian’s greatest experience is not some mighty deliverance. The Hebrew children’s greatest experience was walking with the Son of Man in the midst of the fire. If they had been de livered from the furnace, they would have missed that walk with God in the fire. If Paul had been delivered from his thorn in the flesh, he would have missed something infinitely greater. Mighty deliverances make great stories which cause audiences to hang on to every word. But they can bring distress to some listening soul by their very contrast to his experience. He may not ha,ve been granted deliverance from his thorn and what is wine to the delivered may be vinegar to the undelivered. We should relate such deliverances with great caution and it is better if we have some thing greater to tell than the removal of Satan’s messenger in our case. The Christian’s supreme experience is not even A REMARKABLE ANSWER TO PRAYER. Paul’s prayer was answered but not in the way he expected. If it had been, he would have received a smaller blessing than that which came through the denial of his request. Now God does grant amazing answers to prayer. He does often give us
experiences such as Paul enjoyed. Men of the Bible met God and many of the saints have been granted those rare and lucid intervals when earth fades and heaven becomes intensely real. Fox, Bunyan and Finney, for instance, reached uncommon alti tudes. In our day we have read how George Truett had a peculiar experience of Christ. We do not doubt these men for their word is reliable. I am not inclined to take some other stories I have heard without plenty of salt. They leave me cold. When I hear some visions related, I merely wonder what the “ visioneer” had for supper before he reached his third heaven! But even when raptures are genuine, they are not the Christian’s greatest experience. In fact they may be dangerous. If it hadn’t been for Paul’s third heaven, he would not have had his thorn in the flesh. That thorn was given, he tells us, “ lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations.” He repeats the rea son, “ lest I should be exalted above measure.” Such experiences are not good for other people if you tell them too often. Listeners who are hun gry for such exalted states themselves begin look ing for “ it,” seeking some strange escape from reality, trying to work up a self-induced ecstasy. Paul began this passage telling about “ It” — the third heaven—but he ended talking about “ Him” —the Lord Himself. Anything is dangerous that starts people looking for “ It” instead of “Him.” God does indeed sometimes grant a “trip to third heaven.” Peter, James and John had a rare day on the transfiguration mount but when it ended they saw no man save Jesus only. We are so prone to get excited, trying to build three tab ernacles to house our red-letter day, but actually such occasions are incidental. They are not the Christian’s supreme experience. Nor is the most important thing A MIGHTY DELIVERANCE. Paul was not delivered from his thorn in the flesh: but if he had been, he would have missed something greater. God does indeed again and again deliver from danger, disease, temptation, disaster and death. We are told in Hebraws of a glorious galaxy of faith heroes who subdued king doms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weak
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AUGUST, 1967
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