2 Corinthians 11:25
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; 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;
The verse recounts literal bodily sufferings of three beatings with rods, one stoning, three shipwrecks, and a night and a day adrift in peril on the sea.
The stoning took place at Lystra, where a mob left him bruised and apparently dead outside the city walls, yet he rose up, praised God, and went back to continue his work.
These were part of a far wider life of incessant labor and anguish, with stripes and imprisonment, cold and hunger and thirst, perils by land and sea and from countrymen and heathen and false brethren, weariness from toil and working with his own hands, sickness, depression of spirits, and sleepless nights of prayer over the churches.
All was borne for the truth's sake and for the gospel as a faithful messenger to the Gentiles to bless others, even to imprisonment and death, as God's appointed witnesses in all ages must expect.
He did not dwell on his trials or make them prominent, but turned attention from them to Jesus, remaining joyful in tribulation and magnifying God's grace.
Sustained by divine power amid opposition, clamor of enemies, and desertion of friends, he pressed on in the blood-stained path Christ had trodden, looking to Calvary and seeking no release until he should lay off his armor at his Redeemer's feet, so that his wounds and scars stand as trophies of victory proving trials can be endured.
What Paul Suffered
The verse lists literal physical hardships: three beatings with rods, one stoning, three shipwrecks, and a night and a day exposed to danger in the sea. These beatings, stonings, and shipwrecks were borne for the sake of the gospel in the work for Christ, together with stripes, imprisonment, hunger, and thirst and perils.
The stoning took place at Lystra, where a mob stoned Paul and left him bruised and battered and apparently dead. His unconscious, apparently lifeless body was dragged outside the city and left beneath its walls. But he rose again, praised God, and returned to the city and continued his work.
These sufferings belong to a much wider ministry of incessant labor, many trials, and deep anguish. They included stripes and imprisonment, cold and hunger and thirst, and perils by land and sea, in the city and in the wilderness, from his own countrymen, from the heathen, and from false brethren. At Ephesus this meant teaching in public and from house to house with tears, meeting continual opposition from unbelieving Jews and repeated attacks by the mob with insult and abuse. There he bore the burden of all the churches, worked with his own hands for his necessities, and pressed on in weariness and painfulness from unceasing toil and constant danger, enfeebled by disease and at times depressed in spirits, spending sleepless nights in prayer over apostasy in churches of his own planting. Such beatings, shipwrecks, and other dangers and severe burdens show that faithful labor for God can involve great physical and mental strain.
All was endured for the truth's sake and for the gospel, as a faithful messenger to the Gentiles, to bless others. It included imprisonment and finally death for faithfully carrying God's message. Such reproach and persecution is what God's appointed witnesses in all ages expose themselves to for the truth's sake.
Faithfulness Under Trial
Paul gives in his letters only occasional glimpses of his labors and sufferings for Christ, for he does not dwell on his own trials or make them the focus. He turns attention from them to Jesus and remains joyful amid tribulation. He turns from his hardships and magnifies God's grace.
His steadfastness, sustained by divine power, witnesses to God's faithful promises, abiding presence, and sustaining grace. Amid the constant storm of opposition, the clamor of enemies, and the desertion of friends he almost lost heart, but looking back to Calvary he pressed on with new ardor to spread the knowledge of the Crucified. He treads the blood-stained path that Christ had trodden before him, seeking no discharge from the warfare till he should lay off his armor at his Redeemer's feet. His wounds and scars stand as trophies of victory in the struggle of faith, showing that trials can be endured rather than treated as defeat.
His account describes severe trials greater than those Brother Andrews had experienced or would be called to endure. It is part of his relation of his experience that is to be studied and made to speak decidedly until it gives a deeper experience. That deeper experience keeps a worker out of controversies and out of seeking to be original with odd notions, and moves the work in a dignified, elevated, ennobling manner. The chapter containing the verse instructs that those who view matters with human eyesight make very grave mistakes when they engage in a work God has not appointed but has condemned, the work of criticizing and climbing upon the judgment seat to pronounce sentence. For their own spiritual advancement it is far better to watchfully examine their own hearts and look well to their own shortcomings and defects of character to remove from themselves the beam of faultfinding, evil surmising, evil speaking, bearing false witness, hatred, and accusing of the brethren.