Pauls Service and Sufferings for Christ

Well, good morning. And this section is certainly a very interesting section. This doesn't, if I had to boast, I wouldn't be boasting about what Paul talks about here. It just, it just is incredible. It just is incredible. Okay, so I labeled this Paul's service and suffering for Christ. So here's the outline that I've, I don't have to move my cup. Let's do it there.

And we come, starting in verse 1 we come down through the Paul's godly jealousy for the Corinthians. We come through the fact of talking about the false apostles and ministering without charge. We talked about Satan disguising himself as an angel of light. So now we're down to the section where Paul, as was said, he felt it even though he realized that man's boasting Not what God is about what God wants us to be about he wants to be about boasting about him and the Lord So but Paul says I think it's necessary and I'll try to build that case I'm gonna go back and review just a little bit of the previous verses or two Why he felt he had to boast and the next week I get to have Mike come back. Yay And he's going to finish up this chapter with and Paul's gonna boast about his weakness and that's what actually the Lord wants us to do.

And that's a hard thing to come to boast about our weakness. It sounds all wrong. We're Americans. We don't boast about weakness. We boast about this or that. So whatever. But Paul is going to tell us why that's next week. Mike will cover that part. So okay, let's go back here.

So this section, you know, the end of last week's topic was Paul was just saying how How do you Corinthians, how are you tolerant? The word tolerate kind of comes up. How do you tolerate these false teachers? So in this verse, he's going to go through and he's going to list five things, five aspects of how the Corinthians tolerated these false teachers. And it's a pretty sad situation. Okay, he says, For you tolerate it, the actions of the false apostles, So this is the second time he used the word tolerate.

He used it in the previous verse. And the five statements are if statements. And if isn't always included in most translations, but it's there in the original. And it's assumed to be true. So it's if and assumed to be true. So here we go, the first one.

If anyone enslaves you, and they are, so that implies they are enslaving you, and make you a slave of you, they control you, And here's a verse that talks about that aspect. But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, in order to bring you into bondage. So they were allowing these false teachers to bring them into bondage, to enslave them. And the second point is, if anyone devours you, the idea is kind of colorful, it gobbles you up, takes your substance and takes your money.

It reminded me of this verse in Luke, Luke 15.30.

This is the story of the prodigal son. This is the older son talking to his father. He says, but when this son of yours, the older son, the prodigal son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth. And he says, why have you shown him all this grace? You killed the fatted calf, you are gracious to him. But he devoured the father's wealth. by application, these false teachers were devouring the wealth of these Corinthians. And it goes on, the third one, takes advantage of you, to capture you, prey upon you. And this verse kind of came to mind in Matthew, woe to you scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses.

And then the next one, if you exalt, if he exalts oneself, and they were, they were exalting themselves, you lift yourself above someone, And I thought of the verse that we covered back in chapter 10 about how we're not, we're to be destroying speculation, every lofty thought that raises up against the knowledge of God. We're not to be exalting ourselves. We're to be exalting God, exalting our Savior.

And then the last one, if anyone hits you in the face, so this is the idea of insult. And actually, I missed it last week, but we have the phrase, a slap in the face, right? You will say that somebody verbally slapped you in the face. So it has a physical context and a speech context.

And actually, it physically happened to Paul in Acts 23.23.2. He actually was slapped in the face. And actually, Merriman builds a good case that This was more the thing that you might think. The Jewish people were about the fact that if a rabbi didn't like the way you talked, he could slap you in the face. That was okay. So the physical part was in view here.

So they're saying that these false apostles were literally slapping you in the face. And Merriman's last comment about this verse is, "...and these actions are a disgrace. You should know better." Why were the Corinthians allowing these false apostles to do these awful things to them? Are you out of your senses?

Okay, so that kind of sets the stage for the next verse. And then Paul, in his typical fashion, He has a heart for the Corinthians. He takes responsibility for this. Now Paul says, and it's not deserved, he says, Paul will lay the disgrace on himself. The disgrace of allowing those things to happen. Kind of a literal translation of verse 21a is, I speak according to dishonor as we ourselves have been weak. And dishonor here is the idea of shame, disgrace, of self-disparagement.

So Paul kind of had that in view. And it's irony, really, that was not Paul at all. Paul was a meek person. And he talks about that a little bit. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And then 2 Corinthians 10. Now I, Paul, myself, urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who am meek when face to face with you, but in bold toward you when absent. Paul had a mighty pen, but a meek exterior. Kind of a neat combination.

So Marian's final comment about this was, we did not act, we, Paul, did not act like authoritative apostles. That wasn't what he did. So now finally, he's going to get to what's called the boasting. And we went through the whole thing, I'm not going to do it again, but just observe, one of the key ideas in verse 23 Are they the false apostles, servants of Christ? And the answer is, no way, Jose. They are not servants of Christ. As we learned, they were servants of Satan. That's who they were serving, and serving themselves and Satan. So that's kind of through all these things we'll talk about. Okay, here we go. So first off, he's going to basically kind of set the stage here.

So he says, and the interlinear has it, but in whatever way anyone may be daring. So rather than saying bold, they use the word daring. It's the same Greek word. It's the idea of maybe daring, to be courageous, bold. So the false apostles had plenty of daring or bolding things to say. But this was a disguise they wore as servants of Satan.

So he says, but in whatever respect, whatever way that may be daring, in foolishness I speak. So Paul still didn't want to be boasting within himself. Human boasting is not what God is about in the Christian. So he says, but I, Paul, also am daring. So what's interesting is this, I am also daring. Let's see here. The verb daring is about boasting. So after repeated attempts, he's going to boast. He talked about boasting back in 10.8, 11.1, 11.6, and 11.16. So he's finally going to start what Paul calls boasting. So he starts off. some key words here.

There is a so am I in this verse. And then later on in the next verse, there is going to be a much more. There is a so am I. So that is going to be a comparison, right? He is going to compare himself to the false apostles. He is going to say, so am I, I am this, so am I. And then we are going to go in 23 and on. He is going to be, I more so. I beyond. He is going to say, I am beyond what these false apostles did.

So he starts off with this, so am I thing. So the first one is, are they Hebrews? So am I. And we know from Philippians 3.5, he was the Hebrew of Hebrews. He was the one you would look to if you wanted to describe a Hebrew, that would be Paul. And actually what this guy named Barnett, via constable, observed was that it looks like, because Paul is doing a comparison here, it looks like these opponents or false apostles were also of Jewish origin because he's comparing themselves to them. So it makes you think they're Jewish by origin as well. Are they Israelites?

So am I. So from Philippians 3.5 again, circumcised the eighth day, the nation of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin.

So his lineage was superb, right? You could not top Paul's lineage. Are the descendants or the seed of Abraham? Paul traces his descendants all the way back to Abraham because he was the tribe of Benjamin. Then I also thought about the aspect of being a believer. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant, to his seed. And notice the singular, that's speaking of Christ. So Paul, you know, being a Jew, he had lineage both ways, as a believer and as a Hebrew of Hebrews. Okay, so there's the first three, the psalmis.

Now let's move on here to the next part. Before he starts the next part, he kind of has this little interlude. He asks this key question. So we're going to see the I'm more so's here. He says, are they, the false apostles, servants of Christ? So this question is rhetorical. It demands a no answer.

No, they're not servants of Christ. I just went through telling you about all these things that they were doing to you. They're not servants of Christ. And Merriman says, of course they're not servants of Christ. I speak as insane, or you could say, I can't believe I said they're servants of Christ. That doesn't make any sense. They don't display the quality of a servant of Christ.

And he says, I more so, I Paul more so. And actually there's just two words in the Greek. It's ego, hupere. And I like a couple of the possible translations of Ego Hupere. It's I beyond them or above measure. So I kind of liked I above measure. So Paul is saying I above measure versus the false apostles. So now Paul will list how his service for Christ was above measure of the false apostles. So he starts out with in verse the second part of 23. in far more abundant labors. Labors here are the idea to work to the point of exhaustion.

So you know the challenge here is you go through each of these ones, or each one are kind of dramatic statements. And also this is kind of, it was kind of raised up. Acts is a great treasure trove, if you will, of Paul's journeys, of his trials and tribulations, but it's not exhaustive. It doesn't have all the ones here. So we find between looking at 2 Corinthians and looking at Acts, They don't match sometimes. They were written at different time periods. 2 Corinthians was written before Acts.

So some people tried to show where it connects up. And I started going on that path, but it got to be so much, I said, I don't know how I can do this or not. So I rely upon several people just to say, OK, it looks like it matches here. So the comparisons I make are probably typical of what it might be. In some cases, they seem to be exact. Some cases, they're comparisons. OK, in far more abundant labors, Labor to the point of exhaustion. So here's a verse that seemed to speak to that. For we recall, brethren, our labors and hardships, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to you, in more frequent imprisonments.

So according to Macaulay, the book of Acts here shows some of these. In Acts 16, we see the imprisonment at Philippi. This is a Philippian jailer, a very familiar one, the Philippian jailer. Paul and Silas are in jail, and that's that account. There was one in Jerusalem in Acts 22. In Acts 23, we see imprisonment at Caesarea. And he had a couple of imprisonments, and his final imprisonment was in Rome.

He had two of those. OK, that was Macaulay. OK, and then the last part. Next he talks about being beaten. Being beaten without number. And the idea of being beaten here is it's with a whip. The Amplified has in stripes, inflicted by being whipped beyond measure. Often in danger of death. These beings put Paul in a real danger of death. We're not told how he was beaten. Next we are told how he was beaten.

So it says, 5 times I received 39 lashes. So this is kind of interesting. If you think about the number of lashes. Let's look at that. According to Macaulay, the official synagogue punishment was 39 lashes. Actually, I'm not sure I exactly heard this. Let me add one more point here. In Deuteronomy, if you go back in Deuteronomy, limit. So the Jews, you know how the Jews were, they didn't want to break the law. So they said, well, we're going to make the synagogue rule 39. That seemed to be their logic. Okay.

And then I heard another aspect of this is that because these whippings were so, you know, they injured a person so much. And I came across it and I told Vonnie and I couldn't find it again. Apparently, and this is somewhere in my notes, I can't tell you who it is, but they would beat a person on the left side of their body to get 39. 13 on the left, 13 on the right, and 13 on their back to make 39 lashes. So that's what somebody talked about. I wish I could remember who it was. Sorry about that. Okay, that was interesting. I believe that's correct. So if you know about that, let me know. out there in TV land or in Zoom land. Alright, so let's go on.

Three times, okay, three times I was beaten with rods and once I was stoned. So now we're going to talk about beatings and punishments. So three times I was beaten with rods. So the rods, you know, the Jews did the whip with the really bad things on the end. They whip people. The Romans or Gentiles did the rods.

And we see an example of that in Acts 16.22.

The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrate tore the... Interesting, I first read this, they tore their own robes, but then I read it this morning and said, Roger, they don't tear their own robes, they're tearing the robes off Paul and Silas. They're tearing their robes off, so there's a them in there. I kept thinking they tore off their robes. No, they tore the robes off and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. So they tore their robes off so they could be beaten. You should read everything, right?

Once I was stoned, this we have a pretty good, everybody seems to agree this is the correct account of this in Acts 14, 19. But the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium having won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. When you read that in the context, it's like, all of a sudden he just kind of stands up and says, I'm okay, let's go on. I mean, it's like, wait a minute, he just got stoned? Can you imagine just, any one of these would put us out of commission forever, just about, or, I don't know, just amazing. Okay, now we go to Three times I was shipwrecked. So according to Macaulay, he counts nine voyages fall made in the Book of Acts. And then there are three shipwrecks that Luke doesn't record.

That was according to Constable. And then we have a night and day in the deep. Let's see. A night and day I spent in the deep. So actually that's not recorded. We can't find that. This is the only place in 2 Corinthians we see that, as was with some of the shipwrecks too. Obviously, and here's what I kind of mentioned before, obviously Luke was selective in what he reported in Acts. It has a lot, but doesn't have them all. Okay, now we move on to... So in this case we're going to talk about as many journeys. Most of these are missionary journeys. And all the things that happened as a result of these journeys.

Endangers of rivers. I couldn't find anything in Acts or the Epistles. So only recorded here in 2 Corinthians. Endanger of robbers. I couldn't find nothing. But this word is also used of Barabbas. We see the same Greek word used of Barabbas. Endangers of my countrymen.

So here's one that kind of speaks to that in Acts 9.22, but Saul kept increasing, and this is kind of just amazing how God's word, he's giving out God's word and it has an effect and they can't overcome him at his logic and his intellect and so they plot to do away with him. But Saul or Paul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him. That was the typical pattern.

We went through the book of Acts with Verne. He'd go through this and he'd go to the city. He'd go into the synagogues. He'd preach the word. Then eventually, over time, the word would get out. And the Jews would come after him. Sometimes there'd be a riot in the city. Sometimes he'd be driven out of the city. But they couldn't discount what he was saying. So they resorted to just trying to kill him.

Okay, we continue on. dangers from Gentiles so this is back to the account in Acts 16 the crowd rose up together against them and the chief magistrate of Thyatira tore their robes here again I kept reading that the wrong way tore their robes off of them and proceeded to order them to be beaten in dangers of cities I counted a few there's many more Jerusalem, Thyatira, Ephesus and many more Endangered in the wilderness, not mentioned elsewhere.

Endangered to the sea. Paul was shipwrecked. There's a good account of that shipwreck going to Rome in Acts 27. Endangered from Paul's brethren. I thought of the false apostles, even though we don't have any recorded physical danger, but certainly they were a dangerous bunch. doing terrible things to the Corinthian church.

So now Paul will talk about these last remaining verses about his personal adversities. I've been in labors and hardship. So we see that phrase used in Thessalonians. For you recall brethren, our labor and hardship how working day and night so as not to be a burden to any of you we proclaim to you the gospel of God through many sleepless nights and we saw that back earlier in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and this is sort of like a mini list of trials and tribulations in beatings and imprisonments and tumults and labors and sleeplessness and hunger and he repeats it in hunger and thirst often without food so that that's the same hunger is mentioned here also in chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians in cold and exposure so we'll see, let me read 8.35 here first so who will separate us from the love of Christ will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril of the sword well the word nakedness It really has the idea of without sufficient clothing, so you're exposed to the elements. You don't have proper clothing, and the translations have picked up on that. So nakedness is used in some translations, some it's not.

This whole section kind of winds up with, we talked about all these external pressures that Paul had. Now he's going to talk about the internal pressures. Internal pressures. There is a daily pressure on me of the concerns of all the churches. And the concern here is cause for care or anxiety. So Wiest has this pressure day after day, namely my anxiety for all the assemblies. So I was thinking about that. So Paul had anxiety for all the churches, all the assemblies. So I wondered, how many does all include? How many churches do you think Paul had anxiety for, or was concerned about?

So I thought, well, I had several choices. I could try to count them. And I thought, well, I don't have... There's lots of things to do. Anyway, there's always that, you know, how much more time, you know, that struggle every teacher has. So I thought, well, I'll look on the internet. So I found these people on the internet, churchplanning.com. And they had some interesting things.

They thought 14 churches. Maybe he started 14 churches in his lifetime. And they said, well, you know, 14 sounds kind of low. So then I kept searching, and I came across this chart. which I think we've come across before here Holly Hills he's a gentleman who was a pastor in Canada for 30 years and he's done a bunch of different things and and I started looking at his chart and I said wow this is a good chart he he calculates and this is this is not the churches that Paul necessarily started but this is the churches that scripture talks about in you know in Matthew through Revelation there are 34 churches and look at those churches Paul went through all those areas and I'm sure they passed around Paul's writings so I'm not going to say it's 34 but 34 sounds a lot better than 14 so Paul had a burden for every church that he was involved with that he was involved in and leading people to Christ I think he also was concerned about as his letters went out to these churches he was concerned about those churches too so just amazingly enough and there's a verse for each of these churches including the ones in Revelation. So Paul was concerned with God's Word getting out to the churches. So this was really encouraging to me. Okay, so last thoughts for today. Paul is not in fact magnifying self in this passage. There's no way he's magnifying himself. There's complete disparity between himself and the adversary. He was serving Christ, they were not.

But he is magnifying through this epistle the amazing grace of God that he could even write down how many times he was beaten. I mean how he survived that only by God's grace that he ever survived any of that. Which in the midst of affliction and suffering is sufficient for his every need. So that was from Hughes through Constable.

So next week we get to see about Suffering that Paul's proud about suffering in his weakness So let's close Dear Heavenly Father. We thank you so much Lord. We thank you for your marvelous grace. We thank you for Paul's tremendous Faith and Trust in you that he would suffer all these things for the for the sake of Christ would endure all these things and not And continue on to preach your word and to be involved in men and women's lives, Father. May we be encouraged by that, in Christ's name.