2 CORINTHIANS 11: 22-27 [GAINING PERSPECTIVE Series]
WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES
[Philippians 3: 4-11]
Do you serve Christ so that all will go well with you here and now? Has all been easy for you in your service of Christ? Ease in Zion was certainly not the Apostle Paul's experience. Experience after experience of difficulty was encountered by the apostle, but he learned to count the testing of his faith as a joy. How? Because through it all he experienced the strengthening closeness and the comfort of the Master he served (l:4-8).
Have you encountered difficulty in serving Christ? Are you encountering difficulty in ministering for Christ? If so count it as proof of your calling and proof that you are fulfilling your calling. If you will open your heart you will experience the same love Paul experienced poured out in your heart by the Holy Spirit and you will serve Him despite all the difficulties and anguishes you encounter.
God would have us learn that the grace of God is sufficient for our every trial and affliction. Trials are an integral and authenticating aspect of our ministry (CIT). Let us journey for a while through the life of Paul as he authenticates to us that he is a true servant of Christ.
I. EXTERNAL QUALIFICATION, 22-23.
II. INCREDIBLE DIFFICULTIES, 24-27.
Paul begins a list of his many credentials with his ethnicity and religious heritage in verse 22. “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
If one wishes to discuss personal qualifications, Paul will advance his own. He does this comparing of external qualifications because the false apostles thought it to be a matter of great important. His response of “so am I” to each of the proposed credentials that make a "superior apostle" places him right along side them. The three designations used here belong to the chosen people, and were thought of as privileges of their birth right.
From a human viewpoint Paul’s credentials were impeccable. “Are they Hebrews?” Meaning of Hebrew nationality or language. Are they Israelites? Meaning tracing their lineage through one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Paul traced his lineage through the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:5). “Are they descendants of Abraham?” Meaning of the seed of Abraham and heirs of a special relationship. Paul's response recorded in Philippians 3:4- 6 expresses his heritage. As one of Abraham’s descendants he was circumcised on the eighth day (Gen. 17:9-14). [More importantly to Paul is that he was Abraham’s descendant by faith (Rom. 4:16).] Paul was in the main stream of God's age old purposes for the whole of mankind through the chosen people of Israel (Rom. 9:4-5).
Paul though did not like to boast that he was of the promised raced that had long awaited the Messiah (5:16). For he now recognized no man according to the flesh. Though he did not renounce his heritage, Paul no longer relied on external associations because he placed no confidence in the flesh.
Paul knew that Jesus is the unique seed of Abraham in whom alone the Abrahamic Covenant may be appropriated (Gal. 3:16, 3 :7-10: 26-28). Jesus alone was the heir of the promise, the One in whom all nations should be blessed (Gen.12).
Starting in verse 23 Paul begins to detail some of the cost of his commitment to Christ. “Are they servants of Christ? I speak as if insane, I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.”
Paul asks if they are servants or ministers of Christ? He is not conceding their claims are true for he has already stated that they are of Satan not Christ (11:13, 15). He is simply accepting their pretense for the sake of argument. He wants to show that they know nothing of the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. These deceivers skin is far to precious to them to experience any suffering for Christ. They may claim superiority in the matter of lineage but where ministry is concerned his experience is far beyond their awareness. Let's look at what Paul states is his authentication as a minister of Christ.
That this boasting is “insane” indicates that boasting is not part of his usual behavior, but he felt it necessary to remind his readers that ministry for Christ can be substantiated with deeds. Discipleship cannot be purchased at bargain prices (Lk 9:23). The cost exacted of the Apostle Paul is measured by the tabulation which follows. This high cost demonstrates the depth of his commitment by delineating the sufferings and trials he endured because of it.
This recounting [for a third time] his trials and suffering also removes the triumphism or dominion model of gospel ministry and Christian maturity being flaunted by the false apostles. True believers follow the model of the Suffering Servant Jesus for ministry and maturity. God is shown to be strong in our weaknesses and sufferings. These false apostles might have had a hard journey to reach Corinth but they knew nothing of the toils, imprisonments and beatings of Paul.
Listen as Paul magnifies the amazing grace of God. The toils or labors Paul speaks of aren't enumerated but we know of no one in the history of the Christian Church who has been more untiring in evangelistic toil and zeal. Paul has also proven his commitment “in far more imprisonments.” Clement of Rome said Paul's was imprisoned seven times for the Gospel. Scripture records five times but only one is recorded at the time of the writing of this epistle (Acts 16:23- Jerusalem; Acts 22:29; 23:10-14- Caesarea 23:35, Rome -Acts 28:16-19; Rome again - 2 Tim. 1:8). He was “beaten beyond measure” both by Gentiles and Jews. Three times scripture records him being beaten by rods, and five times he was given 39 lashes by the Jews (Acts 16:22; 14:19). In deaths oft is literally “in many deaths.” Frequently the possibility of physical death stocked him as he nearly lost his life many times (1:9-10, 4:11) such as at Damascus, Antioch Piscidia, Iconuim, Lystra (Acts 14:19), Thessalonia, Beroca, Ephesus.
II. DIFFICULTIES IN THE JOURNEY (24-27).
Paul now gives specifics which describe the more general terms just used. Each of these is a real living death through which he passed. The catalogue that follows makes it clear that Luke’s account in Acts is selective. He starts the list of suffering for Christ with scourgings in verse 24. “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
The Jewish scourge consisted of two thongs made of calf or donkey skin, passing through a hole in a handle. 13 blows were inflicted on the breast, 13 on the right and 13 on the left shoulders. The law in Deut 25:3 permitted 40 blows but only 39 were given to avoid a possible miscount. The possibility for death under the infliction was possible from the provision which exonerates the executioner unless he should exceed the legal number of blows. [Deut. 28: 58-59, Deut. 29:9 Ps. 68:38-39; were read during scourging.] Receiving this number of lashings served as a public warning that suggested that, “if you do this again, you will die for it next time”
The place where the Jews administered these lashing was in the synagogues. Christ had warned His disciples that they must expect to be scourged by the Jews in the synagogues (Mt. 10:17, Mk. 13:9, Lk. 12:11, 21:12). And just as Christ held up under His more sever beating, so does Paul.
The cost of Paul’s discipleship continues in verse 25. “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.
So inhuman was this particular punishment with rods that it was forbidden that a Roman citizen be so punished. Paul endured it three times even as a Roman citizen. One is recorded in Acts (16:22, 23, 27). While at Philippi many stripes were laid upon Paul and Silas (Acts l6:22-23, 27). The expression beaten to within an inch of his life may come from this particular punishment.
Paul was “stoned” at Lystra (Acts 14:5-19). If you have ever been hit by a rock, even a small one you can imagine what it felt like. Paul and Barnabas had made good their escape from Iconium when they learned that their enemies were plotting to stone them only to face it in Lystra (Acts 14:5). Stoning was the customary Jewish method of execution. Paul was probably stoned for the charge of blasphemy as was the case with Stephen (Acts 6:11, 7:57-60).
Only one ship wreck is recorded in Acts (27:27–44) but it took place after this writing which in dictates that he may have been shipwrecked four times. The deep refers to the bottom or depth indicting it was a long way down. The memory of the events survives like a nightmare. A day and a night tossed to and fro, up and down clinging to life in immanent peril of drowning. All but two of these 13 instances are unrecorded. What a biography the life of Paul would have made. Maybe God will have it on DVD in the Library of Heaven.
From specific hardships Paul turns to danger he faced in verse 26. “I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my Countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;
The whole life of Paul's Apostleship has been filled with peril in his arduous journey for God over the untamed land to unregenerated people. Paul itinerant ministry was constantly on the move against all kinds of obstacles. “In dangers” expresses the continuous threats he faced.
Along the roads traversed by Paul there were numerous rivers. Seasonally they swell with flood waters and become torrents. These raging rivers that had to be crossed and were legendary for the perils they pose for the traveler. The rivers of Asia Minor are still subject to sudden swellings form heavy rains and snow melt in the mountains. These were far too wild for white water rafting trips.
Travels in the mountains and the wilderness was perilous in spite of the great Roman highways. The tribes inhabiting the mountains and table lands of Asia Minor were notorious for robbery.
Paul's perils from his Jewish countrymen can be illustrated from Acts 9:23,29; 13:20, 14:5; 17:5, 13; 18:12; 23:12; 24:27 and these are just the cities with recorded perils. There were conspirators of the Jews at Damascus, Iconium, Lystra, Thessalonica, Berea, etc. “Dangers from Gentiles” we know of Philippi (Acts 16:20) and later Ephesus (Acts 19:23f). “Dangers from false brethren” which he is presently dealing with are mentioned last. Other dangers threaten life and limb but this one threatened to ruin his life’s work for which he had so risked himself. They threatened to tear down the churches by teaching a different gospel, one of legalism and human effort instead of grace and love.
It seems that in no place and under no circumstances was Paul free from perils. Jesus said "Blessed are you when men persecute you and speak all manner of evil against you falsely for My name sake for great shall be your reward in Heaven" (Mt. 5:11-13).
Even at this point in his ministry, Paul had been through so much suffering. I am humbled, indeed, when I consider the price our brother Paul paid to be a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
From verse 27 we learn that in addition to living with dangers Paul willingly endured numerous privations in discharging his apostolic ministry. “I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”
Paul also faced numerous privations in discharging his ministry. “Toils and hardships” are both words for strenuous work. They may refer to Paul’s arduous labor as a craftsman as well as a his teaching and preaching work.
“Sleepless nights” were probably the night watches where he kept prayer vigils seeking heaven's aid in conquering his foes. These are nights when the Spirit of the Lord either kept him awake or where he was unable to sleep so that he might intercede for the saints according to the will of God.
In fastings and thirst [an involuntary abstinence from food which Paul turned into occasions for fasting] or the forgoing of meals in order that his work for Christ might not be interrupted. [While nesteia is ordinarily used of ritualistic fastings (Lk 2:37; Acts 14:23), it is unlikely that such is the sense here.] Paramount in his life, far more than food or drink were the motivating word's "man shall not live by bread alone" and "his meat was to do the will of His Father" and "Out of his being flowed rivers of living waters." He had food that the world knew not of and he feasted on the Manna that came down out of heaven.
He also encountered “cold and exposure” in his work. What a negation of all that the world counts worthwhile (Phil. 3:7-11) or holds dear. But Paul did not see his life as unfortunate for he saw beyond the present suffering to the glory ahead (2 Cor. 4:15-18; Rom. 8:18). This was true all the way to his end where in coldness and nakedness awaiting martyrdom he requested Timothy to bring him a cloak.
This list is not complete for we know he also encountered wild beasts at Ephesus (Acts 19:9; 1 Cor. 15 :32). All these hardships and toils prepared Paul for his future hardships and trials.
In World War 1, the American 308th regiment was SURROUNDED BY ENEMY FORCES and under severe mortar and machine gun fire. Casualties were heavy and supplies were short. The unbearable situation intensified when American artillery began shelling the sector where the 308th had dug in. The only communication was by carrier pigeon. In desperation, a sergeant released the last bird with a pleading note for the Americans to hold their fire.
As soon as the pigeon lifted off, a stray bullet grazed the side of his head and tore out his left eye. Then a piece of shrapnel hit his chest, shattering his breastbone. But his homing instinct was strong and he struggled onward. Somewhere in the flight another piece of shrapnel tore off his left leg, leaving the message cannister dangling from torn ligaments. The pigeon made it to his loft, however, and the order went out immediately to stop shelling. The 308th survived.
Facing incredible, life-threatening obstacles, the apostle Paul carried the gospel to a dying world. But he was able to continue because he kept the goal of "the upward call of God" (Phil. 3:14) ever before him. He believed that the gains of heaven would more than compensate for the losses of earth. So don't be discouraged in the heat of the battle. Remember, you're on your way Home.
The trials and hurts we experience for Christ's sake build our character, demonstrate our faith, and prepare us for further service to the Lord.
IN CLOSING
Paul was angry that the false teachers had impressed and deceived the Corinthians (11:13-15). Therefore, he had to reestablish his credibility and authority by listing the trials he had endured in his service for Christ. To establish the authenticity & authority of his own apostleship, he "boasted" not of his successes but of his sufferings.
Because Paul wrote this letter during his third missionary journey (Acts 18:23; 21:17), his trials weren't over. He would experience further difficulties and humiliations for the cause of Christ (see Acts 21:30 33; 22:24-31). Paul was sacrificing his life for the gospel, something the false teachers would never do.
It was Paul who later penned the words in Romans 8:35-39. Has the lap of luxury and comfort become a stronghold to you? Are you going through any trials and difficulties so that others can come to know Christ?
God may not be asking you to cross torrents, or mountains or deserts to tell the good news that Jesus saves to others, but He is asking you to cross streets, to knock on doors to share your witness. He may not be asking you to give up home and family and job to tell others about Christ but He is asking you to give up an evening or two of TV, and maybe a meal or two so that some one else may come to know the Bread of Life.
What is your greatest suffering for God? Do you have any? What then is your greatest inconvenience to serve God? Turning the TV set off Sunday evening and coming and sitting on uncomfortable pews? Or listening to a sermon that you can't get up and turn the channel off if you don't like it. When you stand before God what will authenticate your ministry, your calling, to serve Christ? We can never sacrifice too much for the One who gave His all for us.
Dear Reader, if you do not have a personal relationship with God; this prayer is for you:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross to take the punishment that I deserve for my sins and that You were raised from the dead. Please forgive me of my sins and come into my heart and life as my Savior and Lord. From this day forward, please be glorified in and through me. Thank You for Your amazing grace. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
