The David Spoon Experience 12-28-23 part 1

A) Two extremely cool principles arise from 2 Corinthians 11:31. The first one is the truth that God the Father is worthy of praise for all eternity. He is not just worthy of praise. He is worthy of forever praise. And because He will sustain us forever, We will be praising Him forever.

B) The second principle is that Paul calls God as his witness. It’s hard to take everyone seriously who makes this claim. Especially(and specifically) when it comes from those who hardly know God and have no reflection of Jesus. But when it comes from a genuine and honorable Christian, we need to give that some more weight. In this case, Paul is sharing about his “mission Impossible” escape from the Governor. No, the government is not always correct in their persecutions.

C) Unto chapter twelve: In this context, the apostle is making it clear that he knows his boasting is silliness made manifest in goofiness. But Paul notes that he has had visions and revelations. This is not “illumination,” which takes place when our lightbulb goes off when we “get” something from Revelation has to do with something new and previously unknown.

D) “I know a man in Christ…”. Paul is talking about himself in the third person (God does this in Job), being caught up to the third Heaven. There is a scholarly persuasion that there are three levels to heaven. No, it is NOT Catholic. It is rabbinical in its origin. And, to some degree, affirmed by Paul in this most unique writing. Other people believe that this is heaven, heaven as opposed to the sky and the starry heavens visible from the earth.

E) Whether in the body and not in the body. This does not mean that everyone can have an out-of-body experience. But it would be more plausible if you were selected to write the majority of the New Testament, shipwrecked, beaten, and targeted for proclaiming the Gospel. And even then, it would be so deep that it wouldn’t be shared for fourteen years.