Let's continue to look at how Paul
handled suffering. It's one thing to handle a day or week or even a
month of suffering, but Paul handled it for many years. Let's look at
how and why he was able to have the endurance to handle such severe
suffering with joy for so long. Because ultimately if Paul could do it, so can we!
In this passage Paul gives three reasons he can endure suffering:
2 Corinthians 4:16–18, Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Today most people prefer instant gratification and short term results as this is what the world teaches us to look for. God however wants us to look at the long term implications of things and look for long term results. We can see from the above passage that Paul doesn't look at just the short term. Instead he sees things from an eternal perspective or the long term results. Each of Paul's 3 reasons stresses the value of what's lasting over that of what is really fleeting in this life. So whenever we become overwhelmed by the immediacy of any kind of trial of suffering we're going through, including dying, we can instead switch our perspectives to view the eternal results this suffering is creating for us.
Another thing that Paul realized that we often tend to forget is that everything that we go through here in this life, including (If not especially) the suffering we go through has a direct impact on our spiritual lives as well. That impact can be for good or bad depending on how we react to the suffering. God wants the impact to be for our good of course and if we are living for Him, it will be.
The three reasons Paul could endure were: 2 Corinthians 4:16–18
1. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
Paul could see that. his physical body was quite literally wasting away due to all the beatings, torture, and even the hard use he'd put it through with all his traveling and work, as well as the effects of aging itself. He says that even though he could see that, he also knew that in direct proportion to that, he was being renewed inwardly/spiritually in his "new self" every day too. So the worse his body was, the more pain etc that he had to endure, the more his inward spiritual man was renewed.
This wasn't "blind faith", to him it was a fact and it should be to us as well. Paul knew that God had promised to do this and since God had said it, it therefore must be true. He could of course also see it for himself in the fruit he was producing and in his spiritual growth as well.
That doesn't mean that every time a believer is in physical pain or suffering of any kind that God is going to automatically renew them inwardly. God's promises are for the believers that are actually obeying Him, not those who have been saved and are just living like they always did more or less and waiting till they die to present their ticket to heaven. Those believers are like the man in the parable of the talents who was given a talent but buried it. No the ones God is renewing day by day are those who are like the men who received 2 and 5 talents in that parable. (Matthew 25:15-30)
Since God was of the utmost importance in Paul's life and mind, to him being renewed daily in his new self, his new nature, was much more important then any physical suffering every would be.
It's not easy to do as Paul did and take our eyes off ourselves and what's happening to us, yet that's exactly what the Lord wants us to do:
Colossians 3:1–4, Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
2. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Paul understood from scripture that this life wasn't all there was. Further, he knew that our "real" lives don't even start until this one is over! This is more like basic training for our real lives or our school days if you will. When compared to all eternity which is before us, this life, even if we live to be 100 is nothing but a drop in the bucket. Over and over God tells us in scripture, through Paul and many others that any suffering in this life will achieve blessings 100 fold over what we suffered! (again this is always for those who are living for God not for themselves) Paul says it again here: (and I could post many many scriptures about this--in fact why don't you guys see how many you can find?)
Romans 8:18, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
So you see, it wasn't just that Paul knew he had eternal life, it was that he was looking forward to what he was earning for that life. (so to speak) As the Lord tells us to store up treasure for ourselves in heaven, this is what Paul was doing and what we all do when we are living for Him and are suffering in any way. As our suffering draws us closer to Him, draws us to study His Word more, and we are renewed in our inner man, or our "new self" and we grow in spiritual maturity, this adds treasure to our account in heaven, for we are being obedient to Him. Let me share something here from my book:
All our troubles and sufferings have a causal effect on our future glory. This effect is not meritorious but productive—it produces an eternal weight of glory. The Greek word (barus) translated “weight” more precisely means “heavy.” It’s as if Paul’s sufferings were building up a heavy mass on one side of an old-fashioned scale. The mass represents the eternal weight of glory that is tipping the scale in favor of the future over the present. In essence Paul could tolerate the present pain as long as it had a positive impact on his future glory.
According to Scripture there is always a corresponding relationship between present suffering and future glory. Even Christ, as we shall see in greater detail in the next chapter, is an example of this principle. Philippians 2:8–9 says, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.” The greater the suffering the greater the eternal reward. To the degree that we as believers suffer now, we will rejoice when we arrive in heaven because we will see the reward of our suffering (1 Peter 4:13). And that reward has nothing to do with sheer external bonuses (fancier crowns, larger heavenly dwelling places), but it relates to our increased capacity to praise, serve, rejoice, and glorify God. That was Paul’s lifelong desire, and it should be ours as well.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. The Power of Suffering
3. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Last, Paul knew that everything physical in our lives here is only temporary as we said earlier. The only thing in our current lives on this earth that has any value at all are the things that add treasure to our heavenly accounts. So it is our spiritual lives, our inner man/new self that is important in this life, not our physical self. For example, it doesn't make a bit of difference to our eternal lives if we go to school or go to college but it makes a huge difference if we don't know God's Word. It doesn't matter one bit to our eternal lives if we make $5 a hour or $30 an hour at work, but how we treat others makes a huge difference in our eternal lives. It doesn't matter at all if my grandchildren don't get any Christmas gifts this year, but it matters a great deal that they begin (or continue-- depending on their ages) to know, learn and grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus.
So for Paul and for all who are born again, when we put our focus, out thoughts, on eternal things, on God, then our troubles, suffering and everything else is much easier to bear. So again, Paul's 3rd reason is that he knows that he is running this race here to get a prize that will last throughout eternity, so he keeps his thoughts on that instead of on the suffering here.
I also want to share with you all a key passage that promises that the Lord will give us the endurance we need as we look away from the physical and toward the spiritual. Of course Paul was very aware of this scripture too and I'm sure he often thought of it:
Isaiah 40:28–31, Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
In this passage Paul gives three reasons he can endure suffering:
2 Corinthians 4:16–18, Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Today most people prefer instant gratification and short term results as this is what the world teaches us to look for. God however wants us to look at the long term implications of things and look for long term results. We can see from the above passage that Paul doesn't look at just the short term. Instead he sees things from an eternal perspective or the long term results. Each of Paul's 3 reasons stresses the value of what's lasting over that of what is really fleeting in this life. So whenever we become overwhelmed by the immediacy of any kind of trial of suffering we're going through, including dying, we can instead switch our perspectives to view the eternal results this suffering is creating for us.
Another thing that Paul realized that we often tend to forget is that everything that we go through here in this life, including (If not especially) the suffering we go through has a direct impact on our spiritual lives as well. That impact can be for good or bad depending on how we react to the suffering. God wants the impact to be for our good of course and if we are living for Him, it will be.
The three reasons Paul could endure were: 2 Corinthians 4:16–18
1. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
Paul could see that. his physical body was quite literally wasting away due to all the beatings, torture, and even the hard use he'd put it through with all his traveling and work, as well as the effects of aging itself. He says that even though he could see that, he also knew that in direct proportion to that, he was being renewed inwardly/spiritually in his "new self" every day too. So the worse his body was, the more pain etc that he had to endure, the more his inward spiritual man was renewed.
This wasn't "blind faith", to him it was a fact and it should be to us as well. Paul knew that God had promised to do this and since God had said it, it therefore must be true. He could of course also see it for himself in the fruit he was producing and in his spiritual growth as well.
That doesn't mean that every time a believer is in physical pain or suffering of any kind that God is going to automatically renew them inwardly. God's promises are for the believers that are actually obeying Him, not those who have been saved and are just living like they always did more or less and waiting till they die to present their ticket to heaven. Those believers are like the man in the parable of the talents who was given a talent but buried it. No the ones God is renewing day by day are those who are like the men who received 2 and 5 talents in that parable. (Matthew 25:15-30)
Since God was of the utmost importance in Paul's life and mind, to him being renewed daily in his new self, his new nature, was much more important then any physical suffering every would be.
It's not easy to do as Paul did and take our eyes off ourselves and what's happening to us, yet that's exactly what the Lord wants us to do:
Colossians 3:1–4, Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
2. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Paul understood from scripture that this life wasn't all there was. Further, he knew that our "real" lives don't even start until this one is over! This is more like basic training for our real lives or our school days if you will. When compared to all eternity which is before us, this life, even if we live to be 100 is nothing but a drop in the bucket. Over and over God tells us in scripture, through Paul and many others that any suffering in this life will achieve blessings 100 fold over what we suffered! (again this is always for those who are living for God not for themselves) Paul says it again here: (and I could post many many scriptures about this--in fact why don't you guys see how many you can find?)
Romans 8:18, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
So you see, it wasn't just that Paul knew he had eternal life, it was that he was looking forward to what he was earning for that life. (so to speak) As the Lord tells us to store up treasure for ourselves in heaven, this is what Paul was doing and what we all do when we are living for Him and are suffering in any way. As our suffering draws us closer to Him, draws us to study His Word more, and we are renewed in our inner man, or our "new self" and we grow in spiritual maturity, this adds treasure to our account in heaven, for we are being obedient to Him. Let me share something here from my book:
All our troubles and sufferings have a causal effect on our future glory. This effect is not meritorious but productive—it produces an eternal weight of glory. The Greek word (barus) translated “weight” more precisely means “heavy.” It’s as if Paul’s sufferings were building up a heavy mass on one side of an old-fashioned scale. The mass represents the eternal weight of glory that is tipping the scale in favor of the future over the present. In essence Paul could tolerate the present pain as long as it had a positive impact on his future glory.
According to Scripture there is always a corresponding relationship between present suffering and future glory. Even Christ, as we shall see in greater detail in the next chapter, is an example of this principle. Philippians 2:8–9 says, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.” The greater the suffering the greater the eternal reward. To the degree that we as believers suffer now, we will rejoice when we arrive in heaven because we will see the reward of our suffering (1 Peter 4:13). And that reward has nothing to do with sheer external bonuses (fancier crowns, larger heavenly dwelling places), but it relates to our increased capacity to praise, serve, rejoice, and glorify God. That was Paul’s lifelong desire, and it should be ours as well.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. The Power of Suffering
3. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Last, Paul knew that everything physical in our lives here is only temporary as we said earlier. The only thing in our current lives on this earth that has any value at all are the things that add treasure to our heavenly accounts. So it is our spiritual lives, our inner man/new self that is important in this life, not our physical self. For example, it doesn't make a bit of difference to our eternal lives if we go to school or go to college but it makes a huge difference if we don't know God's Word. It doesn't matter one bit to our eternal lives if we make $5 a hour or $30 an hour at work, but how we treat others makes a huge difference in our eternal lives. It doesn't matter at all if my grandchildren don't get any Christmas gifts this year, but it matters a great deal that they begin (or continue-- depending on their ages) to know, learn and grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus.
So for Paul and for all who are born again, when we put our focus, out thoughts, on eternal things, on God, then our troubles, suffering and everything else is much easier to bear. So again, Paul's 3rd reason is that he knows that he is running this race here to get a prize that will last throughout eternity, so he keeps his thoughts on that instead of on the suffering here.
I also want to share with you all a key passage that promises that the Lord will give us the endurance we need as we look away from the physical and toward the spiritual. Of course Paul was very aware of this scripture too and I'm sure he often thought of it:
Isaiah 40:28–31, Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Remember how we said earlier that Paul had
told us to follow his example? I'm sure I quoted this verse then too
but want to point it out again. Paul told us to follow his example
because he was following the example of Christ. He was showing us what
it looks like to be a Christian:
1 Corinthians 11:1, NIV Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
We've seen that God used Paul in mighty ways and that Paul is a very good example for us to follow especially when it comes to suffering. However, since Paul was following Jesus, then obviously the very best example to follow would be Him, and Peter tells us that here. In the process of telling us that though Peter also shows us so that we can have no doubt at all about it, that there is no truth at all to the word of faith claims that we're all supposed to healthy and wealthy all the time or the claim that when someone is suffering it's because of sin in their lives. While that certainly can be one reason, it's not the only reason or even the main reason. Look at what Peter says:
1 Peter 2:19–21, For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Knowing that Jesus was/is sinless and yet He suffered terribly by His Father's Will, tells us that we too can suffer just as much and be 100% in God's Will. We also know because Paul told us, that the way Paul got through his suffering was by "keeping his eyes on Jesus" So while we can use Paul and Stephen and others as role models and it's good to do so, we need to remember that ultimately the answer is to keep our eyes (our thoughts, our minds) on Jesus Himself.
Jesus is "one of us" so to speak. He's been there, done that. He went though severe persecution and even more severe torture and death itself. He understands. He walked that road to show us the way, as an example to us.
I don't know how many times as a parent, and now as a grandparent, that I've done things in order to show the children how to do it; or how often I've done things to show them that they didn't need to fear something or that something would only hurt for a moment and then be over, that there was an end and at the end a new beginning. This is what Jesus has done for us. He walked the walk to show us how to do things, to show us we didn't need to fear, to show us that it will only hurt for a moment--that there is an end and at the end a wondrous new beginning.
Hebrews 2:14–15, NIV Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
1 Corinthians 11:1, NIV Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
We've seen that God used Paul in mighty ways and that Paul is a very good example for us to follow especially when it comes to suffering. However, since Paul was following Jesus, then obviously the very best example to follow would be Him, and Peter tells us that here. In the process of telling us that though Peter also shows us so that we can have no doubt at all about it, that there is no truth at all to the word of faith claims that we're all supposed to healthy and wealthy all the time or the claim that when someone is suffering it's because of sin in their lives. While that certainly can be one reason, it's not the only reason or even the main reason. Look at what Peter says:
1 Peter 2:19–21, For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Knowing that Jesus was/is sinless and yet He suffered terribly by His Father's Will, tells us that we too can suffer just as much and be 100% in God's Will. We also know because Paul told us, that the way Paul got through his suffering was by "keeping his eyes on Jesus" So while we can use Paul and Stephen and others as role models and it's good to do so, we need to remember that ultimately the answer is to keep our eyes (our thoughts, our minds) on Jesus Himself.
Jesus is "one of us" so to speak. He's been there, done that. He went though severe persecution and even more severe torture and death itself. He understands. He walked that road to show us the way, as an example to us.
I don't know how many times as a parent, and now as a grandparent, that I've done things in order to show the children how to do it; or how often I've done things to show them that they didn't need to fear something or that something would only hurt for a moment and then be over, that there was an end and at the end a new beginning. This is what Jesus has done for us. He walked the walk to show us how to do things, to show us we didn't need to fear, to show us that it will only hurt for a moment--that there is an end and at the end a wondrous new beginning.
Hebrews 2:14–15, NIV Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
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