Persecuted and Cast Down 2 Corinthians 4:9

Paul the apostle shared with the church members in Corinth how he and his companions, “are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;”, and in chapter four and verse nine of Second Corinthians, Paul shared with the church members how they were also, “persecuted, but not forsaken”, where we read:

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

The verse begins, “Persecuted, but not forsaken;” Paul began with the word, “persecuted” which means “to make to run or flee, put to flight and drive away, mistreat and press forward”, “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated “not forsaken” or “abandoned, deserted, left helpless and behind”. Although Paul and his companions were “put to flight and mistreated” when they shared the “gospel”, they were not “abandoned or left helpless”.

The verse goes on to say, “cast down, but not destroyed;” Paul continued with the words, “cast down” which means “thrown to the ground, prostrated”, “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated “not destroyed” which means “put out of the way entirely, killed, abolished, put to an end and ruined”. Even though Paul and his companions were “thrown to the ground” when they shared the “gospel”, they were not “abolished and put to an end”.

When we meditate upon these words of Paul, we see the resilience of he and his companions. They were not exempt from “persecutions” and being “cast down”, but they purposed not to not feel “abandoned or ruined” because of them. Their idea was to “live above the fray”, which means “live above the circumstances” when they were adverse. Unfortunately, “persecutions” come to the Christian, and so does being “cast down” or “put down” because of their faith.

Next time Paul tells the church members, “always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then,

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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