By Dennis Pollock
In writing to Timothy, the apostle Paul described why he willingly endured so much persecution and vilification by the enemies of the gospel, writing: “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10).
“Endure” is not a word most of us like very much. It involves unpleasant things, people, and situations. When our lives are humming along beautifully, we are not enduring anything; we are enjoying ourselves. But when we must endure, it strongly suggests that we are not having much fun. We would rather be doing or experiencing almost anything other than our present circumstances. And certainly, Paul’s life and ministry at this point were not exactly fun. He was frequently beaten and whipped; he was driven out of town after town and hated by a sizeable number of his own people. Still, he endured, and here he tells Timothy and the rest of us why he endured so much: it was for the sake of the elect.
So, who are the elect, for whom Paul was willing to endure such suffering and misery? The elect are the chosen ones of God in Christ. In short, they are the ones God knows in advance will receive eternal life through His Son, Jesus. They are every person, man, woman, or child, past, present, or future, who will embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. And it was for their sake that Paul must suffer and experience a life that, although it must have been imminently satisfying, was surely not anywhere close to fun.
Our Lord Jesus expressed God’s perspective on men and women coming to Jesus, saying:
There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance… (Luke 15:7).
A Big Deal
In the eyes of God and the holy angels, when a single soul repents and believes in Jesus, it is a big, big deal. Because God is love and is not willing that any should perish and be lost, turning people away from sin and toward Jesus is a major priority for Him. He will go to any lengths that He wisely can to ensure that this happens often.
And this was precisely the attitude of Paul as well. Whatever the cost, whatever energy must be expended, whatever suffering and persecution must be endured, if this resulted in more people opening their hearts and lives to Jesus and receiving eternal life from the Father, it was well worth it – in fact, it was a tremendous bargain.
In another place, Paul describes a time when he begged God to remove some “thorn in the flesh” from him. God refused and told him that His grace was sufficient for him. In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes:
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 (2 Corinthians 12:10).
God was telling Paul essentially: “I am deliberately allowing you to have this weakness, this infirmity in your life, because with it my power can be made manifest in you in a way that it could not otherwise.”
Taking Pleasure in Weakness
Paul gladly accepted this, even saying that because of this, he “takes pleasure in weaknesses” so that the ultimate result will be spiritual strength and effectiveness in ministry. What an amazing thought: Paul was happy to be weak and struggling, if it meant his ministry would be powerful and touch more lives. Paul did not just desire this spiritual strength so that people would all recognize him to be a mighty man of God. He wanted God’s power so that he could win more souls to Christ, build more churches, and advance the kingdom of God in a way that would not have been possible if he had an easier, happier, more fun-filled life. If this was the route to reach maximum spiritual effectiveness and bring the knowledge of Jesus to more people, it was a price he was more than willing to pay. And this leads us right back to the first statement we considered: “I endure all things for the sake of the elect.”
I have often thought of this concept in relation to my own life. If any or every struggle or misery that I must endure results in one more soul coming to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, it is well worth it. Any weaknesses, difficulties, or pressures we experience are going to have an expiration date on them. Many of them will only last a few months, some may last a few years, and occasionally we have some “thorns in the flesh” that we must endure for a lifetime. But if they result in one more soul receiving eternal life, or two more souls, or a dozen more souls, or a thousand, we should be more than willing to pay that bargain price! These people will be enjoying the blessing of salvation a trillion years from now, whereas our little thorn in the flesh will only last a few short years.
You may be saying, “Well, that’s fine for a big apostle like Paul, or some evangelist today that goes around speaking in huge stadiums, winning tens of thousands of people to Jesus, but I’m just a schoolteacher, or a mechanic, or a computer technician. Surely, I don’t need these infirmities, stresses, persecutions, and struggles as Paul did.” No, we are not Paul, but in our own small way, we can advance Christ’s kingdom in our generation. And even if we only win two souls in our lifetime, if it took some infirmities and stresses to make us a fit vessel for Jesus’ use, it will still be a huge bargain. Whatever it takes for Jesus to shape and equip us for fruitful service and enable us to reach the one, two, five, or ten souls that we could not reach otherwise, we must gladly embrace God’s work of grace in our own lives.
The apostle Paul suffered a lot and was persecuted almost non-stop. But do you suppose that today, as he rejoices in the presence of his Savior, he is feeling somehow cheated because his life wasn’t as much fun as some others? Of course not!
Year of Misery
My wife, Benedicta, suffered a lot in her early years. While in her twenties, she experienced a terrible illness and weakness that would not seem to go away. At one point, she had what some might call a near-death experience and found herself in the presence of the Lord. She was given a glimpse of heaven. Then she returned to her little one-room apartment in Lagos, Nigeria, still sick, alone, and with almost no money to take care of herself. But God saw her through and, in time, healed her and made her strong again.
Benedicta has shared the story of that year of her life and her glimpse of heaven many times in many crusades, and a great number of Africans have been encouraged, and some have been drawn to Jesus through hearing it. What was an infirmity, a sickness, a time of great weakness and suffering, has resulted in a great blessing for many people. At the time, in her mind, that year was a total disaster she would have given anything to avoid. But from God’s perspective, all that happened to her was “for the elect’s sake,” and He used it for much good and is still using it that way.
Whatever it takes, whatever “infirmities” we must endure for the elect’s sake, if God can use it to help others to find the Savior, if He can work it so that His people (present or future) will be saved, blessed, encouraged, fed, and equipped, we will gladly pay the price. Our lives will soon be over, but the blessings and beauty that result from us yielding ourselves to the Master’s plan will endure forever!
