What did Paul suffer during his 20 years of ministry?
Paul suffered beatings, imprisonments, and constant opposition from his own countrymen, the Jews, throughout his 20 years of ministry. He endured this only for the sake of the Gospel, and he wrote of being in prison more frequent and in deaths more frequent.
Les explains that during Paul's 20 years of ministry, he faced one beating after another, one imprisonment after another, and constant opposition from his own countrymen, the Jews. In contrast, the twelve disciples, as far as we know, experienced no physical suffering during Jesus' earthly ministry, though they were all eventually martyred. Les points out that Paul suffered only for the sake of the Gospel for that whole period, while the twelve did not have to do that. Paul himself says he was in prison more frequent and in deaths more frequent. This comes as he makes the point three times that Peter, James, and John were not above him; they had slipped off the scene and lost their authority, and now Paul is God's chosen vessel to take the Gospel of Grace to the whole world. He declares, "I suppose I was not a wit behind the very chiefest apostles."