2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 12
Paul’s Boast of His Weakness. 2 Cor. 12, 1–10.
Supernatural revelations: V.3. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) v.4. how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. v.5. Of such an one will I glory; yet of myself I will not glory but in mine infirmities.
The vision itself was unlike any other which he had had: That he was caught up to paradise and heard unspeakable words which no human lips can utter.
The Bible often speaks of heaven in the plural, as in the Lord’s Prayer (in the Greek text), but just what distinction and degrees are to be observed we cannot tell from the various passages. Paul was undoubtedly transported to the third heaven, to paradise, to the place where the redeemed souls were living in the most intimate communion with God, where they saw their Savior face to face. Paul had had a taste of that bliss and glory in this vision.
And he had heard words which were unutterable for any mere human tongue, or which he that had heard them would forever retain as a blessed secret; the substance of the divine communication upon that memorable occasion had been so exalted that it would have been profaned by repetition in human language.
A mere glimpse of the bliss of heaven it had been, but Paul was undoubtedly justified in saying: On account of that person will I glory, but on my own behalf I will not boast except in my weaknesses. Only such incidents will the apostle mention in a vein of boasting in which his own person was not actively engaged, which were bestowed upon him by the mercy of God alone, when he was lifted out of his own individuality and could view himself almost as a third person.
Of himself, in his normal state, he has only one testimony to give, namely, that of his weakness, of his sufferings. And even here the glory is, in the last analysis, only God’s; for sufferings and tribulations can be subjects of boasting only inasmuch as they are borne with Christian fortitude given by God.