AUDIO
TRANSCRIPT
In the 11th chapter of 2nd Corinthians, Paul is still having to speak to the church in Corinth about the false apostles who were insidiously invading the church.
He begins by telling the church how much he loves them and how upset he is that there might be any rival to Christ and His gospel.
He is afraid that their faith is being weakened and corrupted by the false apostles.
He point out that they were converted to the purity and simplicity of the gospel of Jesus that Paul preached and now false teachers come in
And say their teaching is the truth and the believers of Christ are being undiscerningly tolerant of this deception.
He goes on to ask if by humbling himself so they could be exalted when he preached to them with out pay—had he sinned?
The false teachers were saying that because Paul didn’t charge money for his teaching then what he was teaching wasn’t the truth
And worth listening to.
Does that make sense? It actually makes the false teachers look bad because Paul was willing to sacrifice so the church could hear about Jesus.
Paul went on to try and explain to the people of the Corinthian church that these men were false apostles, deceitful, disguising themselves as apostles
Of Christ.
He reminded them that even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, even though he is the Prince of Darkness.
Paul chides them by saying they are foolishly putting up with the treatment of the false teachers. In verse 20 he says, they enslave you, devour you,
Take advantage of you, exalt themselves and hit you in the face.
Paul goes on to say that he has suffered in order to teach them of Christ unlike the false teachers.
He tells them he has been beaten, lashed, stoned, shipwrecked multiple times, suffered hardship, hunger, thirst, cold, and exposure and these were just
Some of the physical things. He says his concern for them is great. Tells them when one of you is weak then I feel your weakness—when one of you is led into sin
Then he is concerned.
In other words he is telling them that his sacrifices were because he loves them and believes that the gospel of Christ is worth every sacrifice that he has
Suffered in order to keep boasting in Jesus Christ.
It seems that the Corinthian church was easily led away from the truth by false apostles and had forgotten the truth that Paul had preached to them
When they were first saved and forgiven.
It can be easy to follow ‘NEW TEACHING” if we don’t know what God’s Word says and seek the truth in prayer each day.
We can also remember that Paul’s humbleness was misrepresented as weakness when he was a mighty man of god. His love for God and for others
Was not an easy road and yet his impact for the kingdom was tremendous. He did not enjoy his hardships, but did not regret what he endured and
Suffered so that others could know the truth and hope of Jesus Christ.