2nd Corinthians – Godly Social Order

The Sufferings of Paul

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Godly Social Order

Lesson: 22-25

Genre: Talk

Track: 22

Dictation Name: RR41612A

Location/Venue:

Year: 1998-2000

[Mark Rushdoony]

Let us worship God. Oh come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our master. Know ye that the Lord, He is God. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Let us pray. Our most good and gracious God and heavenly father, we praise you for your goodness’s to us each day. We thank you for the rain that relieves the drought, we thank you for the fact that we are not subject to the forces of nature, but to your divine providential care. Thank you for your goodness’s to us, that are more than we can even number. Thank you for the opportunity we have to gather together, sharing our common bond as your children, and our common faith in your Son, our savior. We pray that you would bless this time we have together, bless the preaching of your word everywhere this Lords day. We think especially of those places where there are those who suffer because they claim the name of Christ. We pray that you would comfort them, and we pray that you would be with those who are endeavoring to lend them assistance. We pray that you would encourage us in our responsibilities to you on this day and this week. We pray that your Spirit would work in our lives to sanctify us to and understanding of our responsibilities to you. We pray that you would encourage us in that regard, and encourage us in this time we have together, in Christ our saviors name amen.

Our scripture this morning is 2 Corinthians 11:16-33. This morning’s sermon topic is the Sufferings of Paul. 2 Corinthians 11:16 through the end of the chapter, verse 33.

“16 I say again, let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.

17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

18 Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.

19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.

20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.

21 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

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;

26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?

30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:

33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.”

[R. J. Rushdoony] Our subject this morning is the sufferings of Paul. In this passage, Paul begins by saying: ‘I am going to do what normally I would not do, I am going to boast. I am going to tell you the truth about my background and my history. And if you think that is boasting, so be it. Many of you glory after the flesh, you boast of what you are. Well, I am going to do also.

You were ready to tolerate fools, well, you regard yourselves as wise. If a man brings you into bondage you will suffer, if a man devour you, if a man takes what is yours, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face, you are going to suffer for these things.’

‘But,’ He said, ‘Now hear me. What you have endured, whether for personal reasons or for the faith, is nothing compared to what I have suffered.’ And so Paul, boasts as he said; actually he simply repeats an outline of what he has endured for Christ’s sake. And he begins by saying: ‘I am a Hebrew, as much as any of you.’ In fact he came from quite a very important line of ancestry. “Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham?” he says, well, I am too.

Then he comes to the question: “Are they ministers of Christ?” Now, the question might arise: ‘How many ministers were there in the Corinthian church?’ Paul doesn’t mean, ‘Are they really ordained men?’ They are people who feel they are doing their bit, above and over the duty of a layman, to serve Christ. But he says: ‘My ministry has far exceeded theirs.’ And he said: ‘I have been in prison very commonly, and facing death very often.’ And then he summarizes what had happened.

Five times he had been sentenced by the Jews to corporal punishment. Forty stripes, save one. Now, that was with a rod. It left the back of a man bloody and cut almost to ribbons. The law required forty stripes for certain offences, none of which Paul had ever committed. It was the Hebrew custom to make it thirty nine only, and to claim they were erring on the side of leniency, and to avoid killing a man. So they saw it as a virtue.

“Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned,” (And it is surprising he did not die.) “thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;” Well, that is surprising that he survived three shipwrecks. In those days, if you were on a ship, the likelihood of a storm destroying the ship was very great; in fact, on the Mediterranean during the stormy season ship did not go to sea, or if a storm came they headed for the nearest port. The ships did not have the facilities that are common place now, in the way of lifeboats, life preservers and the like. So it is amazing that three times he experienced shipwreck and did not perish.

“In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,” (That is, ‘these are the things that have happened.’ “in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;”

And he goes on to recite what all he had suffered. And then he reminds them at the conclusion that when he was converted and was in Damascus, he had to escape by being let down through a window in a basket, by the wall, in order to escape from the kings hands and certain death.

It is obvious Paul was not only a faithful apostle, but he served a great deal at the hands of the ungodly.

Now, let us consider the church today. How many pastors suffer for their faith? Not many. For one thing, there are not that many who preach the faith, who believe every word of God. So that what they are preaching is often simply a form of humanism under the guise of the gospel.

Now, let us look at the church today to understand and appreciate what Paul says. Recently I heard of a church not too very far from here, within the state, where a young man, a member of the church, seduced two virgins in the church. Felt not the least bit of shame at what he was doing in the church and out of the church. The pastor insisted on excommunicating him, but the boy’s Father, the young man’s father was an elder. So what has happened? He is now trying to kick out the pastor for being unforgiving.

Now of course, according to the Bible, you are only entitled to forgiveness by God and anyone who is Godly, if you have truly repented. And where restitution is possible, have made restitution. And the young man had done nothing. Is this unusual? No. Far from it. It is unfortunately all too common.

By telephone this past week I heard of another situation, not in California, and in this instance a young woman in the church was seducing the teenagers. She had become pregnant, had a child, and had given it up for adoption. Now she was again busy seducing every young man she could, and was pregnant again. What was being done about it? Nothing. Nothing. Of course the pastor could claim he was a good pastor because he preached the word of God faithfully. Preaching is not all that is required of a pastor.

You appreciate from these two illustrations what Paul is talking about. Paul had a lifetime of trouble in church after church, why? Because most churches are either small, or they are full of compromise. That is what keeps people going. Now I am not saying all churches if they are large are the same, but unhappily this is true. When was the last time you heard that this or that church of any prominence or size had disciplined some of its members? I suspect you have not.

I know a few years ago, one young man, a deacon in a very prominent, very large church with a membership of thousands, went to the board of the church with regard to the conduct of young people after church services. Their cars were parked in the huge parking lot, about a block in size, and there they indulged in sexual play and sex. He verified this, he took another man with him around to see it, and went to the church board, and the result was. He was threatened with ouster. Am I talking about anything unusual? No. rather unhappily, too common place.

Paul would be persecuted today as he was in his day. He would be found intolerable as a pastor. In fact, how many churches would take him? Not many.

Some years ago there was something that circulated among churches, and it was very good, very true. It portrayed Paul as a modern pastor who had lost his church and was seeking another one. And he summarized his career as a pastor, telling the truth as we have it in the Bible. And of course he was totally unacceptable to any church. Who would take a man who had nothing but trouble in church after church, and who had upset people by his discipline? This is why what Paul has to say here is so important.

By way of conclusion, he reminds them of another thing: That when he was converted, because he was converted, he was going to start preaching and they knew the power of Paul; the king was going to have him arrested and imprisoned at the very least. This was at the instigation of religious authorities. And he escaped by being let down by the wall in a basket.

So, Paul is telling us it is not enough to believe the word, we have to apply the word in the church, in our families, wherever we have any authority. If more people did as Paul did, there would be a tremendous explosion around the world in the churches. But as a result there would be stronger and better churches.

This text is an important one. Too often people read it for its biographical data and then forget about it. But Paul is talking about the pastorate and its responsibilities. It needs to deal with sin, it needs to confront the ungodly, it cannot be compromising and figure that good, sound preaching is enough. It is not.

So, the life of Paul tells us that while patience and loving kindness and forbearance are required, so too is Godly discipline. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, we give thanks unto Thee for this Thy word. We thank Thee that Thou hast shown the way the church, its ministry, its elders, should conduct themselves in dealing with the sin and waywardness of this world. Purify Thy church we beseech Thee. Raise up Godly men who will preach your word without any compromise, and will apply it also without compromise. Grant us this we beseech Thee, in His name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? You can see how important it is for our time, because in our time discipline has virtually disappeared. The sad fact is that where discipline has been applied, it creates such a ruckus that after that the church refuses to allow any discipline to be applied, they are afraid of it.

Well, if there are no questions, let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father we give thank unto Thee for the life of Paul and for his ministry. We thank Thee for his letters and what they teach us about the Christian walk and the Christian church. Lord God, revive Thy church, grant that Godly preaching and discipline again prevail. Grant Lord that thy word be prospered. We thank Thee especially for the work of Aaron (Kaiaion?) and for Peter Hammond, and for their firm application of Thy holy Word. Bless and protect and prosper them, we beseech Thee.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.