Why did Paul has to suffer as missionary

[Curiousmind]

Hi,

Paul was a missionary and did the will of God,despite this, he had to suffer persecution sometimes, I sometimes ask , why didnt God protect him always ?

Br,

 

[BobRyan]

Hi,

Paul was a missionary and did the will of God,despite this, he had to suffer persecution sometimes, I sometimes ask , why didnt God protect him always ?

Br,

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

2 Cor 4: 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.

Matt 10:24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! 26 Therefore do not fear them...28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

2 Thess 1:. 6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling

John 16:“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. 4 But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

Acts 14:21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

2 Tim 2: You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

Rev 12:
11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. 12 For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”
13 And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. 17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

 

[Neogaia777]

Hi,

Paul was a missionary and did the will of God,despite this, he had to suffer persecution sometimes, I sometimes ask , why didnt God protect him always ?

Br,

Well, Paul had a life before he was Paul, as we all do, etc, but that was not why he had to suffer, because Jesus paid for that. But the primary reason anyone has to suffer for doing the will of God after that, is because it's impossible to know God, and maybe even be saved, and maybe even get into heaven, otherwise until after that maybe, etc.

God suffers/still does suffer, and unless we've gone through the same kind of suffering he has, for the same kinds of reasons he has, then how can we truly know him, and have true genuine fellowship with him, apart from those or that, etc?

For example, If through no fault of your own, and maybe for the sake of love, you've been forsaken/left abandoned/left for dead/always put last on everyone's list, if your even on their list even at all, or ever to begin with, etc, but and/or anyway, through no fault of your own, or for the sake of love, you've been hurt like this by all of those that you love, and still do even to this day, still love, etc, but and/or anyway, if that has truly happened to you, then there is a very unique kind of pain inherent in that, that is a very vital key, in fully knowing God more fully, etc.

And it's even more so if, along the way, through no fault of your own, and only because you loved them, they all made it very, very clear to you that they wished that you were dead, or would just be gone forever and ever from their presence, for you just having loved them, and submitted to them, etc, and it wasn't because they were angry with you at all either, other than hating your weakness, but they just wanted you to die, or be permanently gone, or be dead, etc. So it's really no surprise that, when the time came, they all just simply forsook you, and completely abandoned you, and all left you for dead, etc.

Pain is the best teacher, but only if it doesn't kill you physically or spiritually first, etc, and it's most definitely the greatest way to be a whole heck of a lot closer to God, and know Him much, much more fully, etc. Your voices practically become "one", in light of the deep fellowship involved in that very unique kind of suffering, etc. You know a person's very unique kind of pain very, very much personally, especially by experiencing it very, very much personally, then you also know them, very, very much personally, etc.

God Bless.

 

[eleos1954]

Hi,

Paul was a missionary and did the will of God,despite this, he had to suffer persecution sometimes, I sometimes ask , why didnt God protect him always ?

Br,

He understood it's not really so much about this world ... but the world to yet come (without sin ... without any suffering at all and for eternity)

He and others lived in the promise of the new world to come ... as we do.

We live in a spiritual war zone. War is ugly ... sometimes/often innocent lives are lost and/or great suffering takes place ... however we know the Lord will end this and actually we are to be in good cheer.

Speaking to the Apostles in His final moments before Gethsemane, Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Details of how/when God intervenes or not is not fully disclosed to us ... But in the end, and despite all this, yes, my trust is in God. Only He knows all things .... we do not.

Suffering and evil in this world is temporal and we need to remind ourselves of this daily.

 

[Paul4JC]

Before his conversion, Paul (Saul) had persecuted the church even to death. After his conversion, this bothered and weighed on him. It affected him all his life. Therefore he embraced suffering in a very unique way that most of us don't understand.

[Act 22:4 NIV] I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,

[Act 26:10-11 NIV] And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord's people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

[1Co 15:9 NIV] For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

.................


[Phl 3:10 NIV] I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

 

[Joseph G]

Before his conversion, Paul (Saul) had persecuted the church even to death. After his conversion, this bothered and weighed on him. It affected him all his life. Therefore he embraced suffering in a very unique way that most of us don't understand.

[Act 22:4 NIV] I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,

[Act 26:10-11 NIV] And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord's people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

[1Co 15:9 NIV] For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

.................


[Phl 3:10 NIV] I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Well said. Thankfully Paul also demonstrated for us how to deal with the pain of past sins:

Philippians 3:13-14 NIV

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

While grieved from time to time by his past, we know from the bulk of his writings that he mostly dwelt on his new identity in Christ. And encourages us to do likewise.

Like him, we all know from experience just who it is that would love to have us obsess habitually on past sins - the Accuser of the Brethren. We are not ignorant of his schemes, praise God! There is enough godly suffering to endure without piling on what has been paid for in full.

 

[com7fy8]

Let's put ourselves in Paul's place and feel and see what he was realizing while he suffered for Jesus. He was not suffering for his faults and sinning, like we can.

He was suffering because he loves Jesus and cares enough about enemies to reach to them right while they hate him and make him suffer.

Jesus suffered and died for us, right while we were still His enemies >

"For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." (Romans 5:10)

Jesus came to us, right while we were evil against Him. And so Paul shared with Jesus in such loving by likewise suffering while reaching sinners.

God is almighty and can not be changed or defeated by any evil and pain. No evil can stop God from loving us. So, Jesus demonstrated this on the cross, and Paul has joined in discovering this by his own experience of grace.

And now Paul can minister this grace to us, so that we do not suffer only because of our selfish stuff in weakness, but we can mature into loving being the reason we suffer; and in the goodness of God's love, like Paul we can take "pleasure" in sufferings and troubles > 2 Corinthians 12:10.

We can be sweetly pleasing to our Father while we do things in His love, like how Jesus was "a sweet-smelling aroma" on the cross > Ephesians 5:2.

So, do not fear or be impressed by what evil people might do. Be submissive to God, so we can with God enjoy His good use of any problem, like how God used the crucifixion of Christ for such good.

 

[Paul4JC]

Well said. Thankfully Paul also demonstrated for us how to deal with the pain of past sins:

Philippians 3:13-14 NIV

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

While grieved from time to time by his past, we know from the bulk of his writings that he mostly dwelt on his new identity in Christ. And encourages us to do likewise.

Like him, we all know from experience just who it is that would love to have us obsess habitually on past sins - the Accuser of the Brethren. We are not ignorant of his schemes, praise God! There is enough godly suffering to endure without piling on what has been paid for in full.

Yes, and he did it better than most any other Christian ever. He knew the new life in Christ.

As far as suffering, his calling was clear. There was one more key verse for the OP.

[Act 9:16 NIV] I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

 

[Christfollower7]

1 Peter 2:20-21, "For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps."

2 Timothy 3:12, "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution."

Philippians 3:10, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."

1 Peter 3:14, "But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. 'And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.' "

Romans 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

Romans 5:3-5, "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

And one of my favorite the Lord often speaks to me in is 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."