Was all of
Paul's sufferings due to preaching the Mystery? No!
Are the
sufferings you endure within your family, etc. comparable to what Paul endured?
Yes!
Why do they seem different? Because Paul's job was to go out preaching a brand new message
during a time where Satan could "supernaturally" attack him, etc. God
magnified Paul's office which brought increased scrutiny and persecution.
Believe me, if any of us grace believer's today got really, really bold and
pressed the issue of Grace in Satan's world like our Apostle did...we too would
get increased pressure like Paul.
(On
a personal note...with me being a preacher and on T.V. and radio, I will get
more "public" persecution/rejection, etc. than the average saints. So
since Paul's ministry/witness/testimony for Christ was greater than everyone
else, so too was his sufferings!)
Although
it is clear from scripture that Paul would suffer for Christ sake, not all of
it was because of it. In Acts 9:16, the Lord made it clear that our Apostle
would suffer greatly for Him: "For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake."
Paul
later tells us that those sufferings were to keep him humble…
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
And lest
I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord
thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me.
So
we see that the bulk of Paul's sufferings were for Christ's sake...specifically
because of his unique/special apostleship.
But
Paul says that sufferings comes in 3 ways:
Living in a
fallen creation
Romans:22-23
For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Notice
that Paul says that not only the outside world suffers because of the curse
brought on by Adam's sin, but also us believers who are in Christ! Paul
includes himself. He, Timothy, and other faithful men of God got sick and died
just like you and I do/will because sickness/death are part of the curse on
creation over all mankind and will be til the kingdom is set up on earth!
Not applying
sound Pauline grace into the details of life.
Paul
says to "Walk in the Spirit"...Galatians 5...and that to walk in the
flesh is death. So whether it is the flesh
of carnal lasciviousness or the flesh
of religious legalism, it will lead to trouble!
Galatians 6:6-7
Be
not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
God's
spiritual law of sowing and reaping is in effect and whatever you sow, you will
reap the same and more later!
When
you sow to the Spirit (Pauline grace), you reap that blessed/abundant life God
gives us. But, if you sow to the flesh
(anything else) you reap corruption/destruction/death/chaos!
Paul
made decisions in his life that were not the wisest to do, like insisting to go back to Jerusalem in the
book of Acts when God told him to go far hence to the gentile lands to preach.
And because of his willfulness to go back there, he suffered for it...
Acts 20:22-23
And now, behold, I go bound in the
spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save
that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions
abide me.
So
we see that those particular afflictions would not have happened to Paul if he would have went far hence to the
gentiles like the Lord commanded him. But he had freewill and it all still
worked for God's glory, just like all the dumb things that we do today.
(Most
of the relationships that we are/were involved in from the past were
ungodly/unequally yoked ones, and we have/do/will suffer as a result of
them...that suffering is the "fruit" of our unwise/Un-Pauline
decisions!).
But
don't fret...God can take even our bad decisions and work them for our good if we choose to start listening to his word(s)
to us thru our apostle Paul!
Romans 5:3; 8:28
And
not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation
worketh patience;
And
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose.
2 Corinthians 4:17
For
our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
But
Paul, like we do, still suffered unnecessarily because of some unwise decisions!
Lack of applying Pauline doctrine also affects both lost and saved just like
the affects of living in a fallen world.
Being a faithful
Pauline grace believer
Now
lastly, the third way that suffering comes...the only one that will affect
faithful Pauline grace believers, is found in…
2
Timothy 3:10-12
But
thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith,
longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me
at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them
all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
This
is the sufferings that made up most of Paul's!
Although
he suffered sicknesses, etc., like all men, and although he made unwise
decisions at times like all men, most of his suffering was for being a faithful
ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
the suffering we all should partake
of...
2 Timothy 1:8
Be
not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his
prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to
the power of God;
Philemon 1:29-30
For
unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but
also to suffer for his sake; Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and
now hear to be in me.
This
is suffering that we ought to seek as believers. We then partake in the same
reward that Paul will partake of in Christ!
Hopefully
this helps!
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