As Paul continues his defence of his ministry he speaks of an amazing spiritual experience he had of being lifted up to the ‘third heaven’ (v1-6). First heaven is the sky where birds fly, second heaven is space where the stars exist and third heaven is what we normally refer to as heaven.

Paul is very reserved in what he says. He speaks of himself in the third person and is cautious about what he saw or heard. Paul is sharing this to show that he’s in no way inferior to the so called ‘super-apostles’ who had been leading some in Corinth astray.

But what Paul really want s to get to is the danger of being proud and shares how God kept him humble through a physical ailment that he calls his ‘thorn in the flesh’ (v7). Paul recounts how he prayed three times for this ailment to be taken away from him (v8), but how God’s response was that His grace would be sufficient for him in his weakness (v9).

What Paul is driving at here is that God works not through the high and mighty but through the weak and vulnerable (v10). God wants people not who are full of themselves and proud, but rather people who are very aware of their weaknesses and failings. The ‘super apostles’ were the proud first kind, whereas Paul was happy to be the humble second kind. Which are you?