So 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and
verse 16. I say again, let no man think
me a fool. If otherwise, yet as a fool receive
me, that I may boast myself a little. That which I speak, I speak it
not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly. in this confidence
of boasting, seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will
glory also. For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing
ye yourselves are wise. For ye suffer if a man bring
you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you. if a man exalt himself, if a
man smite you on the face. I am speaking concerning reproach,
as though we had been weak. Howbeit, whereinsoever any is
bold, I speak foolishly. I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of
Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of
Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more. In labours more abundant, in
stripes above measure, In prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received
I forty, stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, Thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day
I have been in the deep. in journeyings often, in perils
of water, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, Beside
those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will
glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. The God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore,
knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus, the governor, Artas,
the king, kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison desirous
to apprehend me. And through a window in a basket
was I let down by the wall and escaped his hands. Amen. May the Lord bless this reading
from his word. These verses today from Paul's
letter to 2 Corinthians provide a long list of trials and dangers
that the apostle faced during the early part of his ministry. And I say early to point out
that While there is no reason to doubt the genuineness of these
troubles in Paul's experience, many of them are not recorded
by Luke in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, nor are they
mentioned in any of Paul's other letters. And if it were not for
this account that we have here in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians,
we wouldn't know anything about most of these things. Paul was
reluctant, almost it appears in the way in which this is written,
embarrassed to be writing in this way. And we would know nothing
of this dear man's extensive and prolonged hardships and his
suffering, except we had this account. For example, the apostle
says that he had suffered shipwreck three times. And yet the only
shipwreck that we know about was off the coast of Malta. Remember
when the snake got a hold of his hand and he shook it into
the fire? But that was on his way to Rome and that hadn't even
happened yet. So that these three shipwrecks
which we're talking about were several years, at least three
years before the shipwreck we do know about. We know about
a stoning in Lystra, where the apostle was left for dead. That's
recorded in Acts chapter 14. And we know about one beating
with rods, which took place in Acts chapter 16. But the other
two beatings with rods, or sticks, which was usually a Roman punishment,
And the five times when he received 39 stripes, which was usually
a Jewish punishment, we know nothing about in the history
of his preaching or his missionary journeys. So there's a lot here
that we just don't know any more about except the fact that the
apostle has recorded them here in this letter. They're just
not part of the story that Luke gives us in the Acts of the Apostles. And I just might mention in that
context, and it's just useful for us to have some background
perhaps, that there is a period of about four years in Paul's
history following his conversion. And before Barnabas goes to Tarsus
to get Paul, to take him to Antioch. Antioch, you will remember, was
fast becoming the center of Christian witness and evangelism in the
early church. Jerusalem lost that role to Antioch
in quite a big way, it would appear, from Luke's account.
But before Barnabas went to get Paul at Tarsus and took him back
to Antioch, there is a period of a number of years in there
that we don't know anything about what Paul was doing. And it's
quite possible that all of this or much of this persecution that
he talks about took place during that time. And certainly Paul's
escape through a window in the basket from Damascus does appear
to have taken place shortly after his conversion. So all the imprisonments
and shipwrecks and these things that are spoken about here are
by no means the full tally of Paul's troubles. And he's still
to be, in his ministry, almost torn apart by a mob in Jerusalem. He's still to spend two years
in prison in Caesarea after this list is written, and another
two years in house arrest in Rome, where he'll be acquitted,
where he'll be released, where he'll be rearrested. And then
we find towards the end of his life, he speaks about being deserted
and pretty much on his own, having only Luke of his old associates
with him. And I think when we think about
that, What's written here, what's still to happen, his solitary
state towards the end of his life, Luke accepted. In all these
things, we remember the Lord's words to Ananias at the time
of Paul's conversion, where the Lord said, I will show him how
great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And it is evident
that Paul did indeed suffer for Christ's namesake. And he who
had treated the young church so harshly, martyring many of
them, was called to share in the hardship of suffering for
the sake of Christ and for the gospel of free grace. And I just want to end this list,
and we sense the reluctance of Paul even writing it, and he
feels that he needs to do it just to counteract the things
that were being said about him. But in this list, let me just
draw your attention once again to that verse 26, because I think
there's something quite, quite poignant in there too. He writes
in journeyings often, and we know about the journeys that
Paul had. In perils of waters, a lot of
traveling was done by the sea. There was flooding that he had
to contend with. in perils of robbers, in perils
of his own countrymen, in perils of heathen, in the cities and
in the wilderness. There was perils constantly for
Paul. But then he says, in perils amongst
false brethren. And all of these perils They pretty much show us that
wherever Paul was, he was exposed to danger of one kind or another,
and he was constantly at risk. But that last clause there, in
Perils Amongst False Brethren, I think is touching and quite
sad. Just as we read on Sunday how
the Lord was betrayed by Judas, So Paul knew about danger and
disappointment amongst false brethren also. And I know many
of us even here today could speak about trials that you've had
to face amongst people that you trusted. as brothers and sisters
in the Lord, and yet offenses have come through them that have
hurt and challenged and sometimes even shaken us to the core of our thoughts about what it is
to be a believer and the disappointment that we felt in the reactions
and responses of other believers. Well, Paul knew about that as
well. and there are offences that we
all have to endure for the cause of God and truth along our Christian
journey and Paul knew about these false brethren as well. And I
have mentioned that the apostle had no pleasure in writing of
these things and he did so only because he was provoked by the
Corinthian churches foolish infatuation with the false teachers who boasted
their great things. And we saw previously last week
how Paul met these men's false doctrine, these false teachers
head on in their doctrine. when he writes in verse 13, for
such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves
into apostles of Christ and ministers of righteousness. And now he
meets, head on, their boasting as well. Their boasting of all
the things that they had achieved and accomplished and endured
and sacrificed for the sake of the gospel. That's what these
men were talking about to the Corinthians. And the Corinthians
were impressed by them. And I think we ought to pause
on that. And there's a little application
here that I just want us to get out into the open and mention. I would like you just to hold
this thought in your mind for all future time. Tune into this
when you hear preachers speaking. Too many preachers come before
a congregation and tell them stories about themselves. If a man comes to preach to us
and spends his time with stories about himself or his talents
and his history, his accomplishments and his sacrifices, there's a
pretty good chance that he's a false teacher. Now, does that
sound harsh? Maybe, but it's no less true
for that. John the Baptist said, Christ
must increase and I must decrease. And Paul preached the gospel
of Christ and he determined not to know anything among the people
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I want to show you something
on that respect. In Acts chapter 18, we read this
verse. We read, after these things,
Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth, and he continued
there a year and six months. So that tells us that Paul had
spent a year and six months, it's actually at least 18 months. It's possible that it's more
than that because it depends whether you read the things that
happened before that verse as including the 18 months or in
addition to the 18 months. But he was there for at least
18 months in Corinth, preaching the gospel, teaching and ministering
to the men and women of the church there. And the men and women
in the church there didn't know anything or very little about
these things that the apostle was having to tell them about
now in order to combat the pretenses and the falsities of these self-styled
ministers of righteousness. Why didn't the people know about
this side of Paul's life and ministry and testimony? Simply
because in that 18 months he'd never told anyone. He was not
there to talk about himself. but he was there to teach the
word of God. He was there to preach the Lord
Jesus Christ. And anyone who gets into a pulpit
and does not preach Christ has no right to be there. And you
and I, the Lord's people, need to be astute and alert and aware
of what we're hearing and who we listen to. That's the lesson
here. My final thought is that I want
to dwell just for a few moments on the Apostle's words when he
says in verse 28 and 29, "'Beside those things that are without,
"'that which cometh upon me daily, "'the care of all the churches.'"
Nobody really knows the bodily sufferings that Paul endured
in his ministry. He preferred to keep it that
way. But he says, all that he endured
on the outside was small in contrast to the burden that
rested daily on his mind and in his heart for the state and
the well-being of all the churches. Now most preachers will tell
you that they have plenty on their mind to think about their
own congregation and perhaps a few people that they know and
with whom they correspond. Paul worried about every church
and every believer. Not only the ones that he had
established or visited or had written to, because Paul had
an enlarged view of the gospel ministry and he showed an admirable
mixture of confidence in Christ's power to save and keep his people,
together with a burning desire to serve his Lord and Master
and do good by all the flock of God. So here was a man who
was sold out for Christ, whose whole life was dedicated to the
service of Christ. And all he wanted to speak about
was Christ. And one might think that the
Lord would smooth the path and ease the way of such a man to
accomplish that end. And yet let me remind you again
of the testimony of Paul at the end of his life. He says in 2
Timothy 4, verse 16, at my first answer, that is the first time
he was arraigned before Caesar, at my first answer, no man stood
with me, but all men forsook me, as did indeed the disciples
of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. He goes on to say, I pray God
that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the
Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might
be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear. Now let
us just pause on that for a moment. The Lord did not eliminate trouble
out of Paul's life for all the work that he was doing, but he
did strengthen Paul in his trouble and he carried him through. And
there's a lesson there. Paul goes on to say, I will glory
of the things which concern mine infirmities. And these infirmities,
they weren't his sins, but they were the trials that he faced
day by day. Paul never gloried in his sin.
Our sin is our shame. But he threw glory in the preserving
and upholding power of Christ. found a closeness of walk with
Christ in all his life's experience. His afflictions and his sufferings,
all his trials, they were opportunity for the Lord to sustain him and
help him and be with him. and he was delivered through
them. He was preserved time after time
in them by the Lord Jesus Christ. As if to say, I am telling you,
as if Paul is saying to the Corinthians, I'm telling you all this not
to prove my pedigree, but to illustrate the sustaining power
of Christ's grace in the lives of his people. And what the Lord
has done for one, he does for all. So let that be our lesson,
our own trials, will not attain to those endured by Paul, at
least I hope they don't. And yet our trials, the trials
that you face day by day, and the trials that we all encounter
as the Lord's people, they try and they test us. They're personal,
they're various, they're secret, or known perhaps to some, but
they are opportunities in which the graces of patience and long-suffering
and joy and contentment can be exercised and nurtured, and the
preserving and upholding power of Christ can be experienced. We don't glory in our sin. We
don't glory in our righteousness, in our natural abilities or our
achievements, but we do find the fruit of our trials glorify
God and they testify to the kindness and to the companionship of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That is what is lifted up in
the life of Paul through all these trials. And the Lord Jesus
Christ will be lifted up through the trials that we have to face
also. Christ says to the church in
Revelation 2, verse 10, Fear none of those things which thou
shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast
some of you into prison, that ye may be tried. and ye shall
have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee a crown of life. So may the Lord make
us faithful, and may the Lord teach us, with Paul, to glory
in our infirmities, knowing that thereby We endure and persevere
because the Lord enables and takes the glory to himself. May
the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Amen.