II Corinthians 11:22 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.
Paul continued his rebuke of the weak Corinthian saints. They doubted God’s Word. They doubted Paul’s authority as an apostle. They were caught up in humanism and needed to change. In verse 22 he challenged their lineage. They prided themselves in being Hebrews. He also was a Hebrew. He also was an Israelite, and furthermore, he was of the seed of Abraham.
Physically, Paul had the credentials to be a Jew. Spiritually he had the right to be of the seed of Abraham both physically and spiritually. He had greater connections than they did. They were leaving doubts as to their spiritual nature.
In verse 23 Paul continued to expose the false teachers. They were even going so far as to claim they were ministers of Christ. That is a special calling. Here Paul again reminded the Corinthians that he was speaking as a fool. They liked this vain competition, but it was not productive to Christian growth. It was necessary here to help them to see just how foolish they were.
Paul had real credentials to put him in good standing with Christ. He knew what it was to work to stay alive, while also working at the preaching of the Gospel. He knew what it was like to be whipped and beaten. Many of them had no idea about this.
Paul had spent time in prison on more than one occasion. He also faced death. He had been stoned and left for dead. Yet he survived. God had called him to a task and God was not finished with him yet. Paul had work to do for God and God would protect him to get that work done.
In verse 24 Paul reminded them that five times the Jews had whipped him thirty nine times. This was not the Romans doing this. This was his own fellow men who chose to whip him mercilessly without due cause.
In verse 25 he stated that three times he had been beaten with rods and once he was stoned. He knew what it meant to suffer for Christ. The Corinthian saints did not know anything about this. The imposters also knew nothing about this.
Once he had been stoned, and three times he had been shipwrecked. Paul travelled by sea to get from place to place. Storms would come up and at times the captain of the ship would not use sound judgment and put all the passengers at risk. Yet Paul had survived these things as well. He had spent a night and a day in the deep. Rescue did not always happen quickly. Paul endured all this because of his love for God and for people, especially of his own people. He wanted the Jews to be saved.
In verse 26 Paul continued to talk of his sacrifices. He journeyed often. While others could stay home and sleep in their own bed and live in the comfort of their home, he travelled by ship and over land. He was called to be an apostle and he also worked as an evangelist. He preached the Gospel to many different groups.
In the process of his travels he suffered the perils of waters. As mentioned already, he suffered shipwrecks and other rough seas. He also faced robbers. There were people then who wanted something for nothing. The same is too often true today. Robbers are greedy and lazy people. They do not want to work for what they want. They just want to take it from others. Paul was not a wealthy man, but robbers don’t always know who they are robbing. They just want what others have.
As noted earlier as well, Paul faced danger from his own countrymen. He should have been safe among his own people, but that was not the case. It is to be expected that the heathen would be hostile to a man of God, but his own people were no better. It did not matter if he was in the city or in the wilderness, safety was a rare commodity. Everywhere Paul went he faced dangers. However, he did not stop serving the Lord.
In verse 27 he continued to speak of his lot. He was often tired and in pain. Having been stoned, and whipped and imprisoned and shipwrecked, etc. of course he would know what pain was. He did not fuss about that. He had work to do and he did it. He was only mentioning all this here to get the attention of the Corinthians who were too full of themselves to be of any good to others. They needed to see the foolishness of listening to false teachers who had no testimony of being saved.
In verse 28, Paul mentioned that as he was facing all these challenges, he had the responsibility of those who were outside of Christ as well as those who were in Christ but weak. He had the responsibility of making sure the churches he started remained faithful to the Lord and were growing. Thus he travelled to visit them and to encourage them to continue on for the Lord.
God’s people need encouragement. Biblical encouragement is not hiding one’s head in the sand and ignoring sin. It is sound Bible doctrine taught with boldness. It exposes sin and shows the way to fix it and then avoid it. It teaches how to grow stronger as a true child of God.
Paul was doing that in this letter. He did so in all his letters. All his letters were authored by God. God knows what makes for a healthy Christian. He knows what sin is and He knows how to strengthen His child. Trust in Him is essential to life.
Pastor Bartel