Here in chapter 4 he talks about being hard pressed, crushed, perplexed, persecuted, and other things. Then he goes on to say, “For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake” (v. 11a). Do you see yourself in any of those terms? You probably have experienced at least some of these things in some way if you try to share the Gospel and live for Christ.
The first thing Paul says is that we are hard pressed on every side. Have you ever felt this way? I do not know a good Christian worker who does not feel like that, at least sometimes. Some of us are hard pressed by circumstances. Many of us are hard pressed by problems concerning other people. If you make yourself available to try to work with people in their difficulties, you find there is no end to those difficulties and needs that will be presented to you. And if you have any sensitivity at all, you feel compelled to try to meet those needs.
Paul says next that we are perplexed. Have you ever been perplexed in Christian work? One thing that perplexes me is that it is so hard to get it done. It is relatively easy to go out and raise money for a hospital, or to do some kind of secular social work. People are glad to give to that. All you have to do is organize your committees, get enough people working, and do it. But I often notice that in Christian work it is difficult. It is difficult to find the people. It is difficult to finance it. The best Christian works I know struggle under a burden of perpetual difficulty in the area of finance. Why should that be? Well maybe the Lord is teaching us to have faith and trust Him to provide. Perhaps in some cases if things were easy, we would misuse the money. But whatever the reasons, we spend much time and effort trying to accomplish Christian work, and the troubles we face along the way can prevent us from getting other things done we would like to see happen. That can be perplexing.
The next one Paul mentions is persecution. In some areas of the world there is a great deal of this. Though not in this country, there are places where Christians are tortured and killed because of their allegiance to Christ. Sometimes persecution takes other forms, such as rejection by one’s family, or some injustice at work. We need to pray regularly for our brothers and sisters around the world whose lives are in jeopardy because of their Christian confession. We must ask the Lord to give them grace and courage to remain steadfast in their faith, and that others around them might also become Christians through the testimony of these saints before their enemies.
In verse 11 Paul writes that they are “always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake.” To a greater or lesser extent, this is the experience of those who try to carry on a faithful ministry for Jesus Christ. This is what happens to people who are following the way of the cross. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18). If you follow Jesus Christ, these things happen. As Paul expresses it in Romans 8, “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (v. 36). This is the Christian’s experience. But we do not merely look outwardly to the things that are happening; we look upward to God and what He is doing. And when we do that, we are renewed because we recognize that God is doing a glorious work, not only through us in the lives of other people but in us as well.
Paul talks about this in terms of the resurrection in verse 14. Because of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, Paul knows that his own personal resurrection is assured. That is a glorious hope and it transforms our circumstances. This is why Paul and the other apostles do not lose heart and continue to speak to others. There is an inward renewal (v. 16.) that God is performing, even as Paul is “wasting away” outwardly because of all his sufferings.
