As we go into chapter 11, Paul "boasts" a lot, but he's "boasting" that Christ is working through Him. So the glory is to God, not to Paul. Paul disliked talking about himself; he wanted to talk about Jesus. The Corinthians were in danger of making shipwreck of their lives. And he must warn them. You, too, occasionally face those dramatic moments in life when you must warn someone--and how to warn a not-receptive person takes wisdom from God and direction from Him as to the timing and the circumstances. I could tell you some stories some time about how God used Minnie in that way. Dramatic moments, directed and empowered by God, but eventually saving the person from a great mistake and bringing glory to God in the process. She took the initiative and made the attempt to help the person only when she felt strong conviction to do so--and she did so gently and with great wisdom and insight that seems to me to have come from God.
Paul told the Corinthians, "But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." 2 Cor. 11:3 ESV Notice the comparison to the Garden of Eden and the key words, "led astray." Satan was cunning and so were the devil's representatives in Corinth in the 1st century and in America today. Just as Satan appeared to Eve in a friendly, beautiful way, false teachers apprear friendly and attractive, but they contradict the Word of God and are distracted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus and commitment to Him.
When Jesus confronted Paul on the Damascus Road and brought him to faith in Christ, the Lord said to His servant Ananias, "This man is my chosen vessel. . . . I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name." Acts 9:16
And in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul details some of that suffering for Christ. The list is so amazing that we know the only way any human being could have endured all that Paul suffered was through the special sustaining strengthening from the Lord. Listen to Paul: 2 Cor. "Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?" 2 Cor. 11:24-29
And in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul details some of that suffering for Christ. The list is so amazing that we know the only way any human being could have endured all that Paul suffered was through the special sustaining strengthening from the Lord. Listen to Paul: 2 Cor. "Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?" 2 Cor. 11:24-29
Paul was joyful in the Lord and content to accept whatever came to him from the good hand of our God. He did not "lose heart" in the midst of his great sufferings. But he was concerned that people who loved him might be dismayed and discouraged by his troubles. So he wrote to the Ephesians, "So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory." Eph. 3:13 As difficult as all those hardships were, God's grace was even greater for it was indeed the grace of God which carried him through those so-difficult experiences. Christ showed Himself in all of Paul's sufferings and in the next chapter we'll see how they taught him to rely completely on Christ's strength. "When I am weak, then
He is strong in my life."
Paul had already written, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." 2 Cor. 4:7-9
One of the ways that Paul authenticated his apostleship was to show the many ways and times that he had suffered for Christ. And yet at the end of it all when he was ready for his "departure" to be with the Lord, he wrote, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18 ESV
The cross comes first and then the glory of the resurrection. First the crucifixion on Good Friday, then Easter Sunday. "Take up your cross and follow Me," Jesus told us.
--Pastor Burnside
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