This man was:
flogged with 39 lashes - not once, not twice, not three times, not four but five times. Flogging was a Jewish punishment done with either an oxtail whip or a strap of leather cowhide that was folded multiple times and attached to a wooden handle. Jewish tradition says 1/3 of the lashes were given to the front of the body and 2/3 to the back.
three times beaten with rods. This was a Roman punishment given by civil authorities. Using birch wood rods they would beat someone all over their bodies. Sometimes the person was strung up and their feet were beaten until they were maimed.
stoned and drug out of town as they believed him to be dead. Stoning was the mode of execution that unbelieving Jews used to kill Christians.
shipwrecked three times as he journeyed far and wide to tell others about Jesus.
in the ocean for a night and a day struggling to stay alive. Imagine yourself adrift in the ocean in the night time not knowing what kind of creature was nearby.
in peril among robbers, his own countryman, among the gentiles, in cities, in the wilderness, in the sea and among false brethren.
exhausted from work, often sleepless, hungry, thirsty, often fasting, often cold and naked.
~2 Corinthians 11: 24-28~
And yet this man never lost hope:
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Romans 5: 1-2
"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5: 3-5
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God." Romans 8: 18-19
"rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;" Romans 12:12
"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable." I Corinthians 15: 19
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4: 13
"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work." 2 Thessalonians 2: 16-17
"that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, " Hebrews 6: 18-19
He was a Roman citizen and a well-educated Jewish man who "still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." (Acts 9: 1-2) until the Lord appeared to Him on the road to Damascus and transformed him into the greatest missionary for Jesus the world has known. He wrote almost half of the New Testament. Forgiven of much, he loved much. He lived a life of hope and peace in spite of the terrible hardships he endured. Eventually he was executed by beheading by the Romans. What a model for a Christian life we have in this man.
His name was Paul
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