Lesson 4 - SUFFERING AND THE PAULINE PROCLAMATION

1. On the road to Damascus the apostle Paul received his commission to bring the gospel to the.Gentiles. The missionary call was to be accompanied by suffering. A dozen years after he received the.call, Paul embarked on the first of three missionary journeys that are recorded in the book of Acts. At.each of these difficult missionary journeys, Luke records certain incidents that exemplified the hardships that Paul went through as he laboured for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Acts 9:15-16

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.

First Missionary Journey (Acts 13:4 -14:28)

Acts 14:19-20

19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and lconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 2 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

Second Missionary Journey (Acts 15:36 — 18:22)

Acts 16:22-23

22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.

Third Missionary Journey (Acts 18:23 - 21:26)

Acts 21:30-32

30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 3“While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

2. In his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul describes the hardships and afflictions that he had gone through as a servant of Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 11:23-28

23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27 I have laboured and tolled and have often gone without Sleep; l have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

3. How then does the apostle Paul perceive his suffering in relation to his missionary call? From his letters we can discern three aspects of his perception of his suffering.

1. Suffering is the means by which Paul brings the gospel to the Gentiles.

Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. Suffering, as an expression of the weakness of Paul, emphasises his dependence upon God and his grace so that ultimately the success of his mission will rest in the power of God and bring praise to Him. To God be the glory!

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surprisingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when i am weak, then I am strong.

1 Corinthians 2:3-5

3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ‘My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 So that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

2. In spite of his suffering Paul can still find and experience the joy of the Lord.

Romans 5:1-5

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

3. Paul sees suffering as only temporary in nature and a prelude to a glorious eternity.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Through outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

4. Paul knows that even as God has appointed for him to suffer for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, He has also, at the same time, empowered and enabled him for the task.

Philippians 4:10-13

10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for l have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

Acts 9:15-16

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.

Questions

1 How are we Christians to view suffering in this life?

2 “A prosperous, wealthy and healthy Christian brings more glory to God than a poorer, less healthy Christian going through difficulties in life”.

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Suffering. Some of us may have been asked, God is supposed to bless us but some of my non Christian friends are doing better financially than us. Or they ask about praying a long time but still no healing. Or you hear sermons on the internet that if you are struggling with money or you are having health problems you have to examine your life and where you have gone wrong.

God promises prosperity then why are we still suffering? And by his stripes we are healed, then why are we still struggling with health?

Many of us have not gone through times of difficulty and to see if we will still stand firm in difficult circumstances.

This message today is more close to my heart. When growing up I do not subscribe to going to the temple to be blessed before my exams but I do it because my parents say so. The word suffering is in the Buddhist thought. The equivalent word of such a powerful concept of suffering is the word sin. Without sin, the Bible would be about 5 pages. It would have ended in Genesis 3. Because of sin, we have a bible with thousands of pages. The word suffering is quite close to my heart.

However well meaning, the Buddhist have not seen it from the perspective of sin because to them there's no God. And the Bible says the fool have said in their heart there is no God. I do not mean to be disrespectful but that's the truth.

There are two types of suffering.

Two Types

Ministry - Money

Persecution  - Problems 

God's Calling - Human Condition

One is from ministry. Answering the call or serving the Lord. The other type is because we live in a very materialistic world. And they feel that with money all their problems can be solved. The suffering is related to money.

The other is persecution in the ministry. We use the word problems in the world view.

The other suffering is because of God's calling. The other is the human condition. 

For pastors, the suffering from ministry is real. For others of us in ministry like cell leaders etc, this part of ministry suffering is less than the full time minister.

We want to work from the New Covenant.

1 Corinthians 11:24-26

24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

This is how Paul sees the New Covenant. The blood of Jesus is the authenticating factor. He then answered his call, working from Acts 9 on the Damascus Road.

Acts 9:15-16

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake.”

It is not a surprised as seen in Isaiah where Jesus is the suffering servant that was prophesied.

Isaiah 53:3-5

3 He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

Paul saw the Messiah as the suffering servant. Paul when called to suffer, when called to preach to the Gentiles is drawn from these verses.

Everything began from the Damascus Road.

AD 35, he met Christ. He went on three missionary trip recorded in the book of Acts. His theology came in the first three years. Then he went to Jerusalem, then to Tarsus. What he did there we don't know. The silent years.

AD 46-48 is his first missionary trip. Lystra, the Bible recorded that's where he was stoned. And they left him for dead. He went to Antioch and shared but some who didn't believe caught hold of him and stoned him.

AD 50-52 is his second missionary trip. He was caught in Philippi. There was this girl who had a demon in her and she went around doing fortune telling. Even demons recognised Jesus. So Paul delivered her and she no longer does fortune telling. Because of this, those that used her flogged him.

AD 53-57 is his third missionary trip. He ended up in Jerusalem where he went to see the apostles. He is a Jew so he does his work at the temple. But they thought he has Greek ideologies and they beat him up quite badly.

He summarise everything in 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 11:23-28

23 Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

Paul was not very impressive in looks compared to the orators of those days. They said Paul is a false apostle and teacher. And Paul answered all these charges.

Paul answers these charges in 2 Corinthians 11. Paul was directing this to the Corinthians and false teachers. He described all his suffering. And this summarises what God told Paul when he said you will suffer. The apostle Paul is a very special person. I am not idolising or lifting him up but if he didn't get the job done I will still be at the temple.

I am a servant in lay ministry. Sometimes we do certain things and people may not be happy. Or you serve and you see the numbers dwindling. Before we go further you need to know the apostle Paul went through all these.

The apostle Paul sees suffering this way.

2 Corinthians 4:11-12

11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.

The correct interpretation is that our death

Colossians 1:24

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,

gives you life. Our suffering will actually be a benefit for you. Paul understood that if Jesus did not suffer on the cross, we will not have salvation. It was not an error of God but an appointment of God that Christ would suffer so all men will receive salvation. Suffering on the cross was not an accident. It is by God's appointment. This is how the gospel will reach the Gentiles.

Paul sees his mission and suffering with the imagery of the suffering servant.

Successful Life vs Sacrificial Life

Paul was not looking for a successful life. Not someone who wants to be recognised or to live to an old age. He was looking into a sacrificial life because he was so Christ centred.

I was looking at Teluk Kumbar ministry and we see about 70% are our own church people. Maybe 5 are from around there. There are always two views. When you see the numbers and it has remained about the same. So you may say it's not successful. Or you may ask did God call us to start that outreach? If yes, then we need to be faithful. The context for ministry is if God has called us. If the mindset to measure success is with the early missionaries, we would not be here.

Suffering is the means to which the Gentiles were reached. So persecution comes into focus. What about our daily suffering? The meaning dilutes suffering. We suffer most when we find meaningless. We cannot comprehend why it's happening. Whatever suffering we go through have its purpose into he providential will of God.

Romans 5:3-5

3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

There are two insight we can draw here. One is the meaning in the suffering we go through. Because we know that there is something good that comes with suffering. There are two ways you can go with suffering. You go bitter, why me? Or when you take it in the correct and right biblical manner you come to God and that you have only God to cling to. You may not want it, but you have God through it. The moment you forget the why and you see it with a positive spin on it, then you say what can I do? If not you will grow bitter and be depressed.

You grow to be a better man. You grow in spiritual character. That's why a man who have gone through suffering actually grow in the Lord. Suffering is one means through which God builds spiritual character.

If you have had a good life and is doing well, praise the Lord and you have a lot of things going for you. But it is not an environment that builds perseverance and you'll not be an overcomer. Suffering builds you and it builds you for eternity. Suffering will bear the fruits of righteousness. Suffering builds character. There is nothing wanted with suffering. 

Paul does not see his suffering negatively. God will work all things out for good. This is our special privilege as Christians. We rejoice in our suffering. We have to be careful. We are not to rejoice for suffering. It is "in" suffering. When suffering comes to you you can still find joy. How does Paul do it? Even though, or despite your suffering you can still find joy. Where did Paul finds it from?

Unconsciously, how you feel is tied in to your circumstances. And this is the crux of the problem. If you are doing well, praise the Lord and you are seen in church. Then when we don't see you in church is because things are not going well. This is natural but not biblical. How you feel the state of your soul is not primarily based on your circumstances. Paul's soul is tied in to Christ. His communion is with Christ. He is going through very difficult time but his joy is in Christ.

When there is love you find joy and rest in spite of your circumstances. This is the key to suffering. Only a child of God can find joy in suffering.

Philippians 4:13

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

God not only give you joy but also empowers you to be an overcomer. God often doesn't change your circumstances but he empowers you to rise above your circumstances.

Helen Keller: "Life is full of suffering. But it also full of overcoming suffering."

If you can see meaning in suffering there will always be good that comes from your suffering. One is character. And he empowers you to be an overcomer.

Having eternity in our hearts changes our perspective to suffering. All of us Christians have eternal life but not all have eternity in their hearts. Paul is someone who has eternity in his heart. It is a lifelong process. It takes a journey for you to have eternity in your hearts.