In recent Day Shares, we have considered how apostles were treated in the first century. Paul lived a life of hardship, deprivation, suffering and danger. I feel quite ashamed when I compare Paul's service for the Messiah to the comfortable lifestyle I have enjoyed. Here is a flavour of the persecution and hardship he encountered as he sought to tell people about the Messiah. In his second letter to the Corinthians, he catalogues the daily hardships he encountered as he sought to tell people about the Messiah. I have listed them and tried to explain each word which Paul uses
Great endurance (patience in the face of trouble and adversity) - suggests being cheerful or hopeful.
Afflictions (distressing situations) literally under pressure. Related to persecution.
Hardships (distressing situations) - from a word meaning constraint
Calamities literally means narrowness of room. Nowhere to turn. Word anguish or calamity
Beatings (wounds inflicted by beating with rods)
Imprisonments - literally being guarded
Riots (in the midst of political instability)
Labours (hard work to the point of exhaustion)
Sleepless nights from the Greek word to keep awake
Hunger from lack of food. This may have been from deliberate fasting or more likely shortage of food.
I have never experienced many of these hardships. I have had the occasional injury from DIY or working at Keswick Convention. I have lost sleep many a time due to pressures in the church or in my workplace before I retired. But I have never endured a beating with a whip or rods and I have never been in prison. In fact, our local Tesco Store is right beside a prison and every time I hear the shouting from the angry inmates, I am caused to be thankful that I have my liberty and freedom.
Notice that the first on the list is endurance or patience in the face of hardships. Paul did not feel sorry for himself. He did not throw a tantrum or blame God for the trials he was being asked to suffer. Instead, he said, "We do not lose heart." In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, Paul says this twice - once at the beginning of the chapter and once at the end.
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. [2 Corinthians 4:1 NIV]
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
[2 Corinthians 4: 16 NIV]
He does not lose his courage or give up. It is so easy to lay down the towel and give up. We feel that we can take no more. What was the secret of Paul's endurance and perseverance? We find the answer in the closing verse of the previous chapter in this letter.
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. [2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV]
This is powerful and uplifting. Paul had a vision of Jesus of Nazareth when he was travelling to Damascus to continue his persecution of Christians. His life was never the same again. He had a vision of Jesus but not on the cross of Calvary although he made the death of Christ central to his preaching. He had a vision of Jesus in glory. He shared this vision with so many of his countrymen. This is the vision that will energise us in 2021. It is the vision of the Son of God and there is nothing to keep us from seeing it - unlike the Israelites in the Old Testament who were never able to see God in His glory. We have, by faith, a glimpse into heaven and we see there that God has exalted His Son to a place of honour and prominence. It is that vision that changes our lives - we become more and more like God's Son the more we focus our minds away from the dreadful things which are happening on this earth. The English Standard Version has an interesting translation of the words which the NIV renders as 'with ever-increasing glory.' Here it is:
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. I like that thought - we are not able to grasp this at one sitting. It is a step-by-step revelation and a step-by-step transformation.
Paul says that this puts all his troubles into perspective. He describes all his sufferings as light and momentary troubles.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. [2 Corinthians 6:17 NIV]
So when he compares all the suffering he is enduring on a daily basis, he considers them to be merely light and momentary - light as to the density of the sufferings and momentary as to the length of them - compared with the eternal glory which far outweighs them all.
[Picture by Karren McPherson - permission kindly granted]
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