What was Paul confident about when he was on his sickbed and thought his ministry had ended?
Paul was confident that he had done as much as the Lord intended him to do. Even while lying on a sickbed, believing his ministry had ended, he trusted that he had fulfilled the Lord’s intended work. He was assured he had completed the service God purposed for him.
Les explains that Paul was in Corinth, not forsaken, cast down, and laid in a bed of sickness. He was disappointed at not being able to meet up with Titus, who was part of his ministry, yet he says he was not destroyed. Paul had just gotten up from a sickbed he thought was unto death. As he was lying on that sickbed—which Les assumes was at Philippi—even though he thought his ministry had ended, he was confident that he had done as much as the Lord intended him to do. Les connects this to Paul always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, so that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Les also notes that Paul later wrote to Timothy at the end of his ministry, with Second Timothy probably being the last epistle written before he was finally martyred.
More Questions
Where was Paul when he thought he was dying of sickness during his ministry?
Paul's sickbed, where he thought he was dying, can be assumed to have been up at Philippi.