John Calvin Commentary 2 Timothy 3:11

"persecutions, sufferings. What things befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me." — 2 Timothy 3:11 (ASV)

But out of them all the Lord delivered me. It is a consolation which mitigates the bitterness of afflictions, for they always have a happy and joyful end.

If it is objected that the success of which he boasts is not always visible, I acknowledge that this is true, as far as it relates to the feeling of the flesh; for Paul had not yet been delivered.

But when God sometimes delivers us, He testifies in this manner that He is present with us and will always be present. For from the feeling, or actual knowledge, of present aid, our confidence ought to be extended to the future.

The meaning, therefore, is as if he had said, “You have known by experience that God has never forsaken me, so that you have no right to hesitate to follow my example.”