Jonathan Newlon
Uniontown Church of Christ
15 May 2020
What did Paul suffer for?
Introduction
In Ephesians 3, Paul mentions his suffering for the Lord, but more importantly, why he was willing to undergo that suffering. He was suffering for the sake of the Gospel. Over his ministry, he was beaten, imprisoned, and eventually killed. Paul was hated for the Gospel of Jesus, but he counted it worthy of suffering for. When we read our scripture this morning, notice also that Paul says that he is suffering for us. That means he counted it necessary and worthy to risk suffering greatly so that we might hear the Gospel and be saved. The question is, do we see the Gospel message as being of such importance? Are we willing to suffer as Paul did. Let’s read Ephesians 3:13-21 and see what Paul had to say.
I. Paul suffered selflessly for others.
I have known folks over the years that have suffered for various reasons. Sometimes the suffering of people I’ve known has been from their own doing. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen suffer breathing problems from smoking or have rotted away their brains from drug use. Sometimes people suffer due to outside forces they can’t control. Perhaps they’ve lost a member of their family. Perhaps they’ve suffered loss in a natural disaster such as a tornado. Perhaps they were physically harmed by someone else and suffered permanent injury. There are many reasons as to why people suffer.
Paul suffered very differently than most people I’ve known. Sure, he incurred pain and emotional scarring, but the reason he suffered is quite different from most. You see, Paul suffered selflessly. He didn’t suffer because of something that he did mistakenly or from giving in to bad vices over the years. He didn’t suffer because of an outside force. Paul suffered in order to share the Gospel, strengthen the Church, grow Christians, and for the sake of the Lord’s Kingdom.
Let’s take a look at the suffering that Paul actually endured. In 2 Corinthians, Paul details the suffering that he underwent in order to share the Gospel. We’ve all had bad times, but it seems to me as though Paul had more than most. In 2 Corinthians 11:24-29 Paul wrote, “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?”
That’s quite the list. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had to suffer nearly what Paul did. I’ve never been whipped. I’ve never been beaten with a rod in the way that the Romans would. This was way beyond what any of us who’ve been switched have ever dealt with. I’ve never been stoned, shipwrecked, without food or water, or threatened by nature or my own countrymen. Not only did Paul undergo all this, but in the end, he was killed for the faith as a martyr. Church tradition holds that he was decapitated for the faith in the city of Rome at the hands of the Roman government. Needless to say, Paul suffered in a way that is hard for any of us to imagine.
With that being said, Paul didn’t complain about the way he suffered. In scripture, he always refers to the fact that he rejoiced at being counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. Paul understood that he did not suffer needlessly for the Lord, but rather, that suffering can have a positive purpose both for us and others. Suffering is not always without purpose. Like Paul promises in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
Paul really shows what suffering can do for us in Romans 5:3-5. Paul wrote, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Look at the formula that Paul gives us here. Suffering leads to endurance. Endurance leads to good Character. Good character produces hope that will not fail us. This is incredible optimism in the face of suffering. Why was Paul able to face the suffering with so much joy? Because he trusted in the Lord.
II. What did Paul say he suffered for?
We have seen up to this point how Paul suffered, but now let’s take a look at what he said he suffered for from our passage. Paul mentions that along with his suffering for us, he prays for three things for the believers. First in verse 16, Paul stated that he suffered and prayed so that “you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” In other words, he suffered so we may be strengthened by the Spirit as individuals and as God’s Church.
Paul understood the risk of spreading the Gospel to the people, but he also understood the rewards. He knew that God would strengthen us if we but heard the Gospel from someone. That when we are saved, the Holy Spirit dwells within us and strengthens us. He builds us up into the Christians that we are meant to be. He helps to guide us on our ways so that we may gain spiritual strength and better serve the Lord.
We may also be strengthened by seeing the example that Paul has set for us. Seeing that he was willing to suffer greatly for us to be saved is inspiring. He was willing to go through emotional hardships for us to hear the Gospel. He was willing to endure great physical pain for us. He was even willing to die so that the Gospel might spread, and he might remain true to the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the most important principles of leadership is to not ask someone to do something that you yourself are not willing to do. Paul understood this and showed us that the Gospel is worth suffering and even dying for. That surely will give us strength.
Next, in verse 17, Paul wrote that he suffered and prayed that, “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” In other words, he did what he did in order that we may come to faith in Jesus Christ! This is the most important of reasons to do anything. Whatever you do in order to bring someone to faith in Jesus Christ is surely of the upmost importance. Let’s think about that for a moment.
The most important thing that we can do in life is to place our faith in Jesus Christ. There are many decisions that we all must make in life, but there is none as important as this. This is decision with eternal implications, not just for us, but also for our families who can be heavily influenced by what we do. This decision is the difference between spending all of eternity in Heaven and eternal glory, or in Hell and eternal suffering. Paul understood the importance of this and was willing to suffer and die for it.
Finally in verses 17-19, Paul suffered and prayed that we, “being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God.” Why did God send Jesus to suffer and die on the cross? Why was Jesus willing to sacrifice himself in order to save us? Why was Paul willing to suffer and die to spread the Gospel to us? It’s all because of love.
Love is the key to our entire existence. Love is the key to the entire Gospel. Love is the great motivator that cause God not only to create us, but also to redeem us after we fell in sin. Look at the importance of love as described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. He wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” He continues in verse 13, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
III. What about us?
Now that we’ve seen how Paul suffered and why he suffered, let’s talk about our response to all this. Paul was willing to go to great length to make sure the Gospel was spread, and that people came to faith in Jesus and were saved. He was willing to suffer emotionally, physically, and even die to serve the Lord. How do we react to the Gospel message? We say we believe in the Lord and want to do His will, but are we willing to suffer like Paul?
We have it pretty easy in America. We don’t have to suffer a lot for the Lord in America, at least not in the ways Paul did. In fact, one of the great reasons we were founded was for the freedom of religion. We aren’t in much danger currently of having our heads taken off for spreading the Gospel or being put in prison for it. However, it’s not so easy in the rest of the world.
In many countries around the world, especially Muslim countries, you can be arrested and even killed for sharing the Gospel with others. In places like Iran and North Korea, the very mention of Jesus Christ can be enough to warrant a death sentence. In North Korea, the very possession of a Bible is punishable by death. Even in places that we like to think of as being more friendly to us, it’s not so easy. Our country has a good trade relationship with China, however, they are not friendly to Christians. In China, preachers who preach the truth (especially when it goes against Communist ideology) have been jailed never to be seen again.
The thing is, even with all these strict punishments in all these unfriendly countries, Christians there still practice their faith and proclaim Jesus as Lord! They aren’t afraid to suffer for the Gospel’s sake. They aren’t afraid to die because they trust in the Lord Jesus. Notice earlier that I said that we aren’t in danger in the United States as suffering as Paul did “so far.” While we aren’t in that danger right now, the day may come where we are. We see more and more hostility to Christians in the US not just by common people, but even amongst politicians and those in power. It’s becoming more and more mainstream to reject Christian ideology as a “myth,” as “unloving,” and even as “dangerous.” They say that we aren’t “accepting” and that we are “judgmental” and “unloving” when we speak from the Bible about things like homosexuality, premarital sex, and abortion. Persecution is starting and it will grow like wildfire if left unchecked.
Conclusion
Trust me friends when I say that persecution of Christians is coming in the USA. The question is, are you willing to stand up to that persecution? Are you willing to still proclaim Jesus as Lord even when threatened with suffering or incarceration? Are you willing to publicly stand for God’s word even in the face of death? We must take after the example of Paul. We must be willing to suffer, bleed, and die for the name of Jesus Christ. We must take inspiration from this great Apostle and rejoice in our sufferings. Love God enough to stand up for his Word. Love Jesus enough to stand for the Gospel. Love others enough to share the Gospel with them so they might have eternal life with Jesus Christ in Glory. Remember what Jesus said in John 15:12-13, “This is my command, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
