Paul Writing in Prison After His Sufferingsby KandD
11:272 Corinthians 11:27
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
The verse sums up Paul's life and ministry as a steady pattern of strenuous toil and suffering, in exhausting labor, often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and repeated fasting without food, and in cold without enough clothing. It grew out of incessant labor for the gospel amid opposition and heavy burden for young churches, with many sleepless nights spent in prayer and anxious thought over apostasy and fear his work might prove vain, and with literal privation, stripes, imprisonment, perils, poverty and homeless wandering endured for the truth. He gives only occasional glimpses of these trials without dwelling on them, turning instead to magnify God's grace, and when almost losing heart amid opposition and desertion he looked back to Calvary for new ardor to follow the blood-stained path Christ trod till laying off his armor at his Redeemer's feet. Such self-denial and suffering form and perfect Christian character, standing as wounds and scars of spiritual warfare; compared with his life of hardship, conflict and toil, believers have suffered little for the truth, and ease and comfort are to be sacrificed in living not for self but for Christ and the good of others. It therefore calls ministers and God's people to follow his example in persevering, self-denying labor for souls, forgetting infirmities and standing at the post of duty under heavy responsibilities, yet without overtaxing body and mind to breakdown, but guarding strength and allowing for rest.
Paul's Hardships Explained
The verse sums up Paul's life and ministry as strenuous, with hard toil and suffering as its steady pattern. Weariness and painfulness mean exhausting labor and painful toil, watchings often mean frequently going without sleep in sleeplessness and sleepless nights, hunger and thirst mean going hungry and thirsty, fastings often mean frequently going without food through repeated fasting, and cold and nakedness mean enduring cold and exposure without enough clothing.
Its setting is incessant labor, especially at Ephesus and beyond, battling opposition, pushing forward the gospel with untiring zeal, guarding a church yet young in faith, and bearing a heavy burden for all the churches. Weariness and pain came from unceasing toil and constant danger, including working with his own hands as at Corinth to supply his own necessities. This steadfast pursuit of the work continued while he was enfeebled by disease and at times depressed in spirit.
Its watchings often were many sleepless nights spent in prayer and earnest thought over apostasy in churches of his own planting, over methods counteracting his work, and over sorrow and fear that his efforts might prove vain. That burden led him to write letters of reproof, counsel, admonition, and encouragement as their condition demanded.
Its hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness were literal privation endured for the sake of the gospel and the truth, together with stripes and imprisonment and perils by land and by sea, in the city and in the wilderness, from countrymen, from the heathen, and from false brethren. That privation included poverty and a homeless wandering life while seeking to bless others, suffering with labor, fatigue, and pain, and exposure to heat as well as cold.
Paul gives only occasional glimpses of these trials without dwelling on them, turning from them to magnify God's grace. His trials were greater than those later workers experienced. Amid constant opposition, clamor of enemies, and desertion of friends he almost lost heart but looked back to Calvary for new ardor to spread the knowledge of the Crucified, treading the blood-stained path Christ trod before and seeking no discharge from the warfare till laying off his armor at his Redeemer's feet.
Christlike Endurance Taught
The verse shows the exhausting toil, sleeplessness, hunger and thirst, repeated fasting, and exposure to cold and lack of clothing through which Christian character is formed and perfected by self-denial and suffering, and beside such a life of hardship, conflict and toil believers have suffered little for the truth. Such endurance in labor, fatigue, pain, hunger, cold and heat in seeking to do good to others is a wound and scar of spiritual warfare that can stand as a trophy of victory. Ease, pleasure and comfort in this life are a sacrifice laid on the altar of faith and hope, and the true disciple does not live to gratify self but to Christ and for the good of His little ones, holding ready to suffer more if required and finding true happiness in making others happy.
Paul lived as a homeless wanderer in poverty, suffering, pain and peril while seeking to bless others and follow Christ's example in severe hardship and self-denial for the truth. The apostles endured real bodily hardship in hunger, cold, pain, weariness and demanding circumstances just as people face today, and such hardship and vulnerability to temptation do not excuse ministers from living by the truths they teach, but call Christians to give their lives to Jesus who gave Himself for them.
That suffering for living by the word of God was fulfilled in the Waldenses, who conscientiously studied the word and lived up to the light they received. They were persecuted and driven from their homes, had possessions gained by hard labor taken away and houses burned, and fled to the mountains where they suffered incredible hardships in hunger, fatigue, cold and nakedness with only skins of animals for clothing. Yet as scattered and homeless ones they gathered to sing and praise God that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ's name, encouraging and cheering one another and grateful even for a miserable retreat for shelter. They watched children sicken and die from cold, exposure and hunger without yielding their religion, prizing God's love and favor far above earthly ease or riches, receiving consolation from God while looking forward with anticipation to the recompense of reward.
Call to Faithful Service
The verse calls ministers to follow Paul's example of persevering, self-denying effort and deep concern in laboring for souls for whom Christ died, enduring weariness, pain, and sleepless watching in that work. His exhaustion, hardship, and sleepless watching show God's people to forget their infirmities when concern for souls requires strenuous, self-denying work. The weariness, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, fasting, cold, and lack of clothing belong to strenuous service marked by relentless labor, sleepless nights, and heavy responsibilities borne by a worker in God's cause. Paul's hunger and lack of suitable clothing while continuing in his work reflect the cost of standing at the post of duty when the work goes hard.
His example calls Christians to give their lives to Jesus, who gave Himself for them. The verse shows that workers serving others may labor under severe hardship, danger, and deprivation, enduring weariness, pain, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, fasting, cold, and lack of clothing. Yet it does not call them to overtax themselves, but to guard their mental and physical powers, because excessive strain can bring sickness and breakdown. This applies to tireless medical missionary workers whose zeal can lead them to neglect their mental and physical strength and take on more than they can bear; they must guard their health and allow for rest, or they may become sick and be forced to leave the work.
The chapter containing the verse holds much instruction and warns that those who view matters with human eyesight make grave mistakes when they engage in a work God has not appointed but has condemned. That condemned work is criticizing, climbing upon the judgment seat, and pronouncing sentence. For spiritual advancement it is far better to examine their own hearts with watchfulness and to look well to their own shortcomings and defects of character. That self-examination means removing from themselves the beam of faultfinding, evil surmising, evil speaking, bearing false witness, hatred, and accusing of the brethren.
The verse sums up Paul's life and ministry as a steady pattern of strenuous toil and suffering, in exhausting labor, often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and repeated fasting without food, and in cold without enough clothing. It grew out of incessant labor for the gospel amid opposition and heavy burden for young churches, with many sleepless nights spent in prayer and anxious thought over apostasy and fear his work might prove vain, and with literal privation, stripes, imprisonment, perils, poverty and homeless wandering endured for the truth. He gives only occasional glimpses of these trials without dwelling on them, turning instead to magnify God's grace, and when almost losing heart amid opposition and desertion he looked back to Calvary for new ardor to follow the blood-stained path Christ trod till laying off his armor at his Redeemer's feet. Such self-denial and suffering form and perfect Christian character, standing as wounds and scars of spiritual warfare; compared with his life of hardship, conflict and toil, believers have suffered little for the truth, and ease and comfort are to be sacrificed in living not for self but for Christ and the good of others. It therefore calls ministers and God's people to follow his example in persevering, self-denying labor for souls, forgetting infirmities and standing at the post of duty under heavy responsibilities, yet without overtaxing body and mind to breakdown, but guarding strength and allowing for rest.
Paul's Hardships Explained
The verse sums up Paul's life and ministry as strenuous, with hard toil and suffering as its steady pattern. Weariness and painfulness mean exhausting labor and painful toil, watchings often mean frequently going without sleep in sleeplessness and sleepless nights, hunger and thirst mean going hungry and thirsty, fastings often mean frequently going without food through repeated fasting, and cold and nakedness mean enduring cold and exposure without enough clothing.
Its setting is incessant labor, especially at Ephesus and beyond, battling opposition, pushing forward the gospel with untiring zeal, guarding a church yet young in faith, and bearing a heavy burden for all the churches. Weariness and pain came from unceasing toil and constant danger, including working with his own hands as at Corinth to supply his own necessities. This steadfast pursuit of the work continued while he was enfeebled by disease and at times depressed in spirit.
Its watchings often were many sleepless nights spent in prayer and earnest thought over apostasy in churches of his own planting, over methods counteracting his work, and over sorrow and fear that his efforts might prove vain. That burden led him to write letters of reproof, counsel, admonition, and encouragement as their condition demanded.
Its hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness were literal privation endured for the sake of the gospel and the truth, together with stripes and imprisonment and perils by land and by sea, in the city and in the wilderness, from countrymen, from the heathen, and from false brethren. That privation included poverty and a homeless wandering life while seeking to bless others, suffering with labor, fatigue, and pain, and exposure to heat as well as cold.
Paul gives only occasional glimpses of these trials without dwelling on them, turning from them to magnify God's grace. His trials were greater than those later workers experienced. Amid constant opposition, clamor of enemies, and desertion of friends he almost lost heart but looked back to Calvary for new ardor to spread the knowledge of the Crucified, treading the blood-stained path Christ trod before and seeking no discharge from the warfare till laying off his armor at his Redeemer's feet.
Christlike Endurance Taught
The verse shows the exhausting toil, sleeplessness, hunger and thirst, repeated fasting, and exposure to cold and lack of clothing through which Christian character is formed and perfected by self-denial and suffering, and beside such a life of hardship, conflict and toil believers have suffered little for the truth. Such endurance in labor, fatigue, pain, hunger, cold and heat in seeking to do good to others is a wound and scar of spiritual warfare that can stand as a trophy of victory. Ease, pleasure and comfort in this life are a sacrifice laid on the altar of faith and hope, and the true disciple does not live to gratify self but to Christ and for the good of His little ones, holding ready to suffer more if required and finding true happiness in making others happy.
Paul lived as a homeless wanderer in poverty, suffering, pain and peril while seeking to bless others and follow Christ's example in severe hardship and self-denial for the truth. The apostles endured real bodily hardship in hunger, cold, pain, weariness and demanding circumstances just as people face today, and such hardship and vulnerability to temptation do not excuse ministers from living by the truths they teach, but call Christians to give their lives to Jesus who gave Himself for them.
That suffering for living by the word of God was fulfilled in the Waldenses, who conscientiously studied the word and lived up to the light they received. They were persecuted and driven from their homes, had possessions gained by hard labor taken away and houses burned, and fled to the mountains where they suffered incredible hardships in hunger, fatigue, cold and nakedness with only skins of animals for clothing. Yet as scattered and homeless ones they gathered to sing and praise God that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ's name, encouraging and cheering one another and grateful even for a miserable retreat for shelter. They watched children sicken and die from cold, exposure and hunger without yielding their religion, prizing God's love and favor far above earthly ease or riches, receiving consolation from God while looking forward with anticipation to the recompense of reward.
Call to Faithful Service
The verse calls ministers to follow Paul's example of persevering, self-denying effort and deep concern in laboring for souls for whom Christ died, enduring weariness, pain, and sleepless watching in that work. His exhaustion, hardship, and sleepless watching show God's people to forget their infirmities when concern for souls requires strenuous, self-denying work. The weariness, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, fasting, cold, and lack of clothing belong to strenuous service marked by relentless labor, sleepless nights, and heavy responsibilities borne by a worker in God's cause. Paul's hunger and lack of suitable clothing while continuing in his work reflect the cost of standing at the post of duty when the work goes hard.
His example calls Christians to give their lives to Jesus, who gave Himself for them. The verse shows that workers serving others may labor under severe hardship, danger, and deprivation, enduring weariness, pain, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, fasting, cold, and lack of clothing. Yet it does not call them to overtax themselves, but to guard their mental and physical powers, because excessive strain can bring sickness and breakdown. This applies to tireless medical missionary workers whose zeal can lead them to neglect their mental and physical strength and take on more than they can bear; they must guard their health and allow for rest, or they may become sick and be forced to leave the work.
The chapter containing the verse holds much instruction and warns that those who view matters with human eyesight make grave mistakes when they engage in a work God has not appointed but has condemned. That condemned work is criticizing, climbing upon the judgment seat, and pronouncing sentence. For spiritual advancement it is far better to examine their own hearts with watchfulness and to look well to their own shortcomings and defects of character. That self-examination means removing from themselves the beam of faultfinding, evil surmising, evil speaking, bearing false witness, hatred, and accusing of the brethren.