Second Corinthians 4:8

The Apostle Paul tells us very clearly about the difficult part of his ministry: the sufferings that were his fate, and that may very well be your fate also because “all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 4:8-11, “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; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” Paul said that he was troubled on every side, yet not distressed. In other words on the outside all around Paul there were troubles, tribulations, and troubling things taking place. But on the inside Paul said that he had peace. He was not distressed by the troubles. That is possible through faith in Christ. Jesus said in John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.” Jesus also said in John 16:33, “In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” If we think like the world, then we will react the way the world reacts to the troubles, and it will not be good. But if we walk in fellowship with the Lord and are full of faith, we can react the way that Paul reacted: “troubled on every side, yet not distressed.”

When there are troubles that come into your life, then you must determine what to do about them. That is not always easy either. Oftentimes what to do about it is not immediately apparent. It can be perplexing. Now what do I do, now that this has happened to me? Paul said he was “perplexed, but not in despair.” You may not have an answer yet as to what to do, but you know that there is an answer, because the all-wise all-knowing God is your guide and your companion. Those who do not believe have no hope, and therefore they do desperate things that they should not do and only make their situation worse. When you have Jesus as your Savior there is always hope. There is no situation too hard for Him. So make sure that you keep trusting in Him. Then you will be like Paul. You may be perplexed sometimes, but you will not be in despair. You will not be without hope.

Paul also said that he was “persecuted, but not forsaken.” When you are persecuted, it means that one or more persons that you are near have gone after you and pursued you to cause you harm by word or by deed. When such things happen, you can feel like the world is against you; but Paul said that when he was persecuted, he knew that he was not forsaken. He was not left alone. Paul knew that there was always at least one with him to support him and to help him. Jesus promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

In Second Corinthians 4:9 Paul also said that he was “cast down, but not destroyed.” You have probably heard the phrase, “down but not out.” It comes from the boxing ring, and certainly should be a description of a Christian in the struggles that life brings his way. We are not ignorant of the devices of the evil one or of the potential of anyone in this world to be cold-hearted. They can sure come against you with a lot of force and maybe even knock you down, but they cannot keep you down. It does not matter what has knocked you down, whether it be someone else or even yourself and your own failures. You can always rise again. “A just man falls seven times, and yet rises again.” Whatever came against you may have been a terrific blow that knocked you off your feet, but if your faith is in the Lord, no opposition can destroy you. You will be just like Paul, “cast down, but not destroyed.”

Paul made clear the principle of suffering that was part of the ministry that was given to him. The same kinds of sufferings will come your way as you follow Christ in this world. Listen to the description one more time, “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.” Why do these things happen to a Christian? Paul explains the principle that is involved in Second Corinthians 4:10-11. He wrote, “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”

It is the principle of death and life. From a human standpoint death is a horrible thing, but through the Lord Jesus Christ a better life can follow death. In other words death will give way to life. That is the spiritual principle: first comes death, and then comes a better life. That does not mean that death should be sought after. Life is precious and it should be valued and protected and lived to the fullest. But that in no way changes the truth of what Paul said elsewhere: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” If you know Christ as your Savior, then you will gain from dying because you will go to a better place and you will be a better person. That is physical death, and the same thing is true concerning spiritual death.

If you want to be a spiritual person who bears fruit in following Christ then you must die to yourself. You must die spiritually speaking in order to live spiritually. Jesus said, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit.” That is one of the reasons that God allows the troubles and the persecutions to come into your life. He is giving you an opportunity to die to your self-will so that you will be stronger and better spiritually in following Christ. The principle that is taking place in your life is just as is written in Second Corinthians 4:10, “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

What happens when a believer does not die to himself when faced with some difficult situation? That is when the selfish works of the flesh are manifest, and that is when a Christian fails to be like Jesus. If you do not die to yourself and your own self-interest, then you will commit sinful acts in response to what has happened to you. You must trust in the Lord and what He wants you to do in response, and you must be able to say, “Not my will but thine be done.” When will these situations end where you must die to yourself in order to bear fruit for Christ? When will you have arrived spiritually so that you will never again need to suffer this death to self? Such a day will never arrive in this life. That is why Paul said, “I die daily.” And that is why he said in verse ten in this passage “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,” and in verse eleven, “For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake.”

Another result of dying to yourself is written in Second Corinthians 4:12 that says, “So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” Because Paul died to himself and trusted in Christ concerning his troubles and persecutions, the Lord worked through Paul to create spiritual life in people at Corinth. If you die to yourself, then you will walk in the Spirit and other people will be touched by your life in the way that God wills. By dying to yourself, others will benefit. They will gain spiritually. In other words, you will bear fruit. That is one of the great purposes of life: to see your life used to touch others for Christ. That will only happen if you die daily to yourself.

The source of many of your troubles will be directly related to your public testimony for Christ. The dark spiritual forces are trying to get you to shut up, to be quiet, and to stop spreading the gospel. They will use whatever means and whatever power they have to do so. Why do we speak the name of Jesus? We do so because it is the natural outflow of our belief in Him. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” Or as Paul wrote in second Corinthians 4:13 quoting Psalm 116:10, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.”

If we continue to name the name of Christ, there will be a price to pay in this world of spiritual darkness. The servant is not greater than his Lord. You might have to pay the ultimate price: your own life. Paul knew that truth concerning his life when living in the first century, but he wrote in Second Corinthians 4:14, “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.” Everyone is going to die eventually anyway. The most important thing is where you go after you die. Paul had the great assurance and security that every believer in Christ has: “that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus.” If God is going to take care of us and guide us through to safety when the worst happens, then He is going to take care of us when everything else happens also.

These are the ones who are involved in the process of your life: you, Jesus, and all the people with whom you come into contact. Paul describes exactly what should be taking place in any believer’s life in Second Corinthians 4:15 where he wrote, “For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.” Paul was focused on others, and on what part he could play to the spiritual benefit of others. If he was focused more on himself and what was better for himself to the exclusion of the spread of the gospel, he would have never allowed himself to suffer all that he suffered in order that he be in a place where he could be used to spread the gospel and to teach the Word of Christ.

Paul had enough spiritual sense to see that what he was suffering had an important part in transformed lives among the people in Corinth. That is why he said, “All things are for your sakes.” When someone follows the Lord like Paul did, this will be the sequence of events. That person will suffer things for the sake of Christ. The end result of those sufferings will be the spreading of the gospel through the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Then those who come to know the grace of God will be thankful to God for what has happened to them in Christ. And then of course, all of these things glorify God. It pleases God that He can still find someone through whom to work, and that He can still find someone who loves Christ enough so that he will continue to trust in Christ no matter what happens.

These were the things that motivated Paul. He knew the spiritual principle that suffering for Christ from time to time is a requirement in the life of every believer if positive results are going to be seen. Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 4:16, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” One reason that some Christians do not bear more fruit is because when they see how difficult it is getting for them, they faint at the troubles. They give up. They stop. Remember that Jesus said, “They that endure to the end shall be saved.” In other words if you want to be saved from the difficulty that you are in, then you must endure it until God’s time comes for it to end. Do not stop it by your own selfish will. Do not quit from it because it is difficult. Wait for God’s time to stop it.

Paul said, “We faint not.” The reason that he did not faint is given in the phrase that went just before when he wrote “for which cause.” In other words Paul did not faint in the face of his sufferings because he knew that the result would be that God would be glorified and that he would have opportunities to share the gospel and to teach the Word of God. That is a good criteria to help you determine if you are making the right decision or not: will the decision that you make result in your having more opportunities to teach God’s Word or fewer opportunities? Will you benefit physically, or will other people benefit spiritually from your decision?

Another result from making the right decision and not fainting in the midst of the problems that come your way is given in the second part of Second Corinthians 4:16, “but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” One of the goals of life is to become a stronger Christian, a better Christian: more like Christ. That will not happen if you take the easy way out. Make sure you have your priorities right. It is much more important what happens to you spiritually than what happens to you physically.

What are the sufferings that are going to be given to you anyway compared to eternity? Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Paul makes three points here: 1. Even his affliction he called a “light affliction.” It is light compared to what Jesus suffered, and it is light compared to the glories and wonders of heaven. 2. Paul said that his affliction was “but for a moment.” In other words compared to eternity. One million years from now it will not matter. What will matter will be this: did you know Christ as Savior and did you walk with Him even when it required suffering for Him? 3. Paul said that the affliction “works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” In other words there will be a reward for those who suffered for Christ. God will make it up to you: you can be sure of that. That is what Christ was talking about in the beatitudes when He said, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” It will be worth it all should you stand before Christ one day and hear Him say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

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