"For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive another spirit which from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough!"  (II Corinthians 11:4, ESV)
 
"For apparently you cheerfully accept a man who comes to you preaching a different Jesus from the one we told you about, and you readily receive a different spirit and a different gospel than the one you originally accepted!"  (II Corinthians 11:4, Phillips)
 
In last week's lesson (on II Corinthians 10:7-18), we found the apostle Paul in the midst of defending his integrity and the ongoing ministry he had worked so hard to establish with the Corinthians; defending it against false teachers who had somehow infiltrated the church of Corinth in his absence, and who reasoned that if they could just get the Corinthian believers to lose their trust in Paul, they could become the reigning teachers and bring on their damnable lies and heresies, and destroy the work of Paul and his ministry with the Corinthians!
 
And so we saw Paul (in 10:7) challenging them "not to look at things superficially but to use discernment in examining the evidence with their eyes wide open, and see the obvious contrast between his life and ministry and that of the false teachers!
 
The Corinthians had been saved through the ministry of Paul; he was the founder of the church of Corinth and their "spiritual father"!  They knew of his conversion experience on the road to Damascus and how his life was supernaturally changed; of his calling, and of his authority, as an apostle of Jesus Christ; and of his mandate to build them up spiritually, and not destroy them!  They knew of the zealousness and impact of his teaching and of the exemplary life he lived before them!  His track record was clear, in stark contrast with that of the false teachers!  How could they possibly believe that the false teachers were the true apostles and that he was a false one?
 
And we learned from this lesson that a true man of God can be known:

• By his personal relationship with Jesus Christ!
• By the impact he has on the church, the body of believers!
• By his compassion for people!
• By his distain for eloquent sophistry and other fleshly methods to win the applause of people!
• By his humility and unwillingness to compare himself with others!
• By his willingness to minister within limits, and to not take credit for others' labors!
• And for his seeking only of the glory of God!

Our dear brother John MacArthur, who's now gone to receive his reward, summed up this passage this way: "The Corinthians should have been able to tell the difference between true and false spiritual leaders, and so should we!  True men of God are not "showmen"!  They don't intimidate people; they don't seek to promote themselves; they value truth enough not to tolerate error; they seek to imitate the meekness and gentleness of Christ; they have a high view of Scripture and preach the true and unadulterated gospel; they are content to minister in the sphere of ministry in which God called them; they lead lives consistent with their teaching; they don't take credit for other mens' work; and they seek God's eternal glory, and not their own temporal acclaim!  The man who in this way serves God is acceptable to God, and approved by man!"
 
And that set the scene for our lesson last night (on 11:1-6), where we find Paul continuing to defend his apostleship and his calling, not for his own pride and self-=preservation, or to save his personal reputation, but because the ministry of the gospel of Christ, and the survival of the church of Corinth, were at stake!
 
And so Paul, in verse 1, being the humble man of God that he was, is expressing his wish that the Corinthians "put up with a little more of his foolishness," as he continues to defend himself against the accusations of his critics, and even uses a little sarcasm in making his point!  "Bear with me in a little foolishness," he writes!  Phillips says, "I wish you would put up with a little of my foolishness!  Please try!"  (Constable calls it foolishness because "he didn't like focusing on himself, and shouldn't have had to defend himself, or remind them of God's commendation of his ministry"!  Both he and his ministry are well-known to the Corinthians and he's asking them just to "hang in there with him" while he continue his "foolish" self-defense a little longer!
 
It was important for the Corinthians to recognize him as an apostle of Jesus Christ and accept his apostolic authority, as a spokesman of God, as they apparently were doing, he notes in verse 1!
 
He writes (in verse 2) that he was jealous for them with a "godly jealousy," having the same kind of concern for the Corinthians as God had for Israel!  God jealously guarded His people Israel from the deceitfulness of deceivers who sought to drive their affections away from Him, and He charged them "not to forget His covenant, and not to make (and worship!) graven images"!  
 
Deuteronomy 4:24 says, "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, and a jealous God"!  Psalm 78:58 says, "they (the children of Israel) aroused His jealousy with their graven images!"  And the Psalmist wrote (in Psalm 69:9) that "zeal for Your house has eaten me up"!  These latter words were picked up and fulfilled by Jesus, John 2:13-17 tells us, when He "went up to the temple in Jerusalem, when the Sabbath was near," and found "money changers making His Father's house a place of business"! And so, He overturned the tables and cleansed the temple," reminding the disciples, verse 17 says, what was written about Him in the Psalms, "Zeal for Your house will consume Me"!
 
The apostle Paul felt this same "pain of God's jealousy" when His name was dishonored, according to our text!  MacArthur writes that he was "all caught up in whatever dishonored God in the life of the church," and that he used a simple analogy in verse 2 to describe his concern--likening himself to the Corinthians "as a father bethrothing his virgin daughter to her would-be husband"!  And, in that regard, making sure that she "remained pure and faithful, and was made ready for the consumation of her marriage in the upcoming wedding"!
 
Scripture likens marriage to the relationship between Jesus Christ and "His bride," the church!  In Ephesians 5:25-27, Paul writes: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless!"
 
The apostle Paul had this same concern: that the church would be kept pure until the Rapture and the coming marriage ceremony when He will gather His bride (the church, the "body of Christ"!) and take it to glory for the "marriage supper of the Lamb"!  Revelation 19:6-9 describes it this way: "Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, 'Hallelujah!  For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns!  Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride (the church!) has made herself ready!  It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous act of the saints! Then he said to me, 'Write. blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!"  (Wow!  What a day that will be, when all the redeemed from all the ages will be gathered together participate in this by the throne of God!)
 
But Paul also expressed a fear he had, in verse 3!  "That the minds of the Corinthians might be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ by the same serpent who deceived Eve in the garden!  Led astray by false teachers who were infiltrating the church of Corinth!
 
Swindoll writes that "Satan's major thrust into the experience of Christians is to cause our minds to stray from devotion to Jesus Christ into all sorts of other avenues, even ones that seem wise"!  (And he calls this very passage "one the most significant passages in the Bible concerning spiritual warfare"!)
 
Constable writes that "genuine Christians can be, and are being, deceived by false teachers today, and that they are abandoning their faith! This sometimes happens when young people go off to college and conclude that what they learned in church is unscientific and inaccurate! It also happens when Christians accept the teaching of cultists who come knocking on their doors!"
 
Remember how Jesus Himself warned, in Matthew 7:15-16, that "false prophets would come in sheep's clothing (the garb of sheperds), but inwardly would be ravenous wolves"!  And how Peter wrote (in II Peter 2:1-2) that "in the last days false teachers will rise, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves"!
 
And, according to this text, they had already arrived in the church of Corinth!  Paul writes, in verse 4 (and this is the way the Phillips' translation puts it): "For apparently you cheerfully accept a man who comes to you preaching a different Jesus from the one we told you about, and you readily receive a spirit and a gospel quite different from the ones you originally accepted!"  (The NASV says it more sarcastically: "For if one comes to you and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully!"  (Beautifully?)
 
In Galatians 1:6-9, the apostle Paul wrote something similar to the Galatians!  "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of God, for a different gospel, which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ!  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!  As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed"!  (The Greek word, "anathema," meaning to be separated from Christ and doomed to eternal Hell!)
 
Paul, still on the defensive, concludes this section in effect with this (and again with some sarcasm): "You may think I'm being foolish when I say this, but I consider myself not in the least bit inferior to the most eminent of these so-called 'super apostles"!  Obviously referring not to "the twelve" (since he already described himself "as the least" of the real disciples of Christ), but to the false teachers who claimed to be apostles of Christ!  And he goes on to say (in verse 6): "But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things"!
 
Phillips puts it this way (and again, sarcastically): "Yet I can't believe I am in the least inferior to these extra-special messengers of yours!  Perhaps I am not  polished speaker, but I do know what I am talking about, and both what I am and what I say is pretty familiar to you!"  It should be so evident to them, he writes!
 
Paul earlier (in I Corinthians 2:6-16) had written this to the Corinthians: "Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory, the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has undestood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, 'Things which the eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him! For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depth of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?  Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God!  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words!  But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct him?  But we have the mind of God!"  Wow!
 
And so we witnessed Paul standing firm and reprimanding the Corinthian believers for putting up with false teachers and allowing heresies to infiltrate the church of God!  The church!  The "body of believers"!  And the "bride of Christ"!
 
MacArthur, our dear brother, had this to say when preaching this passage: "I will never be the same as I was before I studied II Corinthians, by any means, not will I ever understand ministry in more rich, profound, heart-searching, and personal terms, than I have come to understand it from knowing the heart of Paul as revealed in this tremendous letter"!  And we can probably echo his thought!
 
And we want to sing again, as we did last night, that great old hymn of the faith: "The Church's One Foundation'"!  Sing it with me, as a remembrance of what we shared last night: "The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord; she is His new creation, by water and the Word; from heav'n He came and sought here, to be His holy Bride; and with His blood He bought her, and for her life He died!"
 
On the second verse: "Elect from every nation, yet one o'er all the earth; her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth; one holy Name she blesses, partakes one holy food, and to one hope she presses, with every grace endued!"
 
And the third: "Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war, she waits the consumation of peace for evermore; til with the vision glorious, her longing eyes are blest, and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest!"
 
And the fourth!  "Yet she on earth hath union, with God the Three in One; and mystic sweet communion, with those whose rest is won; O happy ones and holy, Lord, give us grace that we, like them, the meek and lowly, in love may dwell with Thee!"
 
Thank you Lord, for the heart and example of Paul, and for the true, Bible-teaching and God-honoring church of Jesus Christ!
 
May God be with you all, til we meet again!
 
Lowell 

"But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord!  For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends!"  (II Corinthians 10:17-18, NASV)
 
"He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.  It is not self-commendation that matters; it is winning the approval of God!  (II Corinthians 10:17-18, Phillips)
 
In last week's lesson, on II Corinthians 10:1-6, we saw how the tenor and tone of Paul's writing changed as he found it necessary to answer his critics and the false teachers who had infiltrated the church of Corinth and were questioning his integrity and trying to destroy his ministry!  It's a "warfare motif" recognizing the spiritual battle that he, and the Corinthian believers, and all believers to this day were and are facing!  The apostle Paul saw the Christian life as an ongoing "spiritual battle" and himself as a "soldier of Jesus Christ"--and it's reflected in all his writing!
 
In I Timothy 6:12, he challenged Timothy, his "son in the faith," to "fight the good fight of faith... and to take hold of the eternal life to which he was called"!  Then, in II Timothy 2:3, to "endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ," noting that "no man who wars tangles himself with the affairs of this life"!  
 
And he wrote that resounding passage to the Ephesians (In Ephesians 6:10-17) which is continuing reminder to all believers, and particularly for this day!  And I love the way the KJV says it (which is what I learned in my youth), and it bears repeating: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places!  Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand!  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God!  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints..."!  Whew!
 
And, at the end of his life, he was able to claim (as he wrote in II Timothy 4:6-8), "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand!  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing!"
 
And, looking back, we realize that he wrote II Corinthians, with its "war-like" tone, because he knew, as MacArthur pointed out, "something any good soldier knows--that though a rebellion has been for a moment ended, vistiges of it can be found in many places; and so he knew there were still some glowing embers from the fire of accusations against him, ready to be fanned into flames at the first opportunity!  And so, in this final section of II Corinthians (chapters 10-13), Paul directs strong and bold words at those remaining rebels, the recalcitrant false teachers, retrenched in the church of Corinth"!
 
And so, we see him coming with "weapons of war," and "guns blazing"!  But still, as he noted in 10:1, "in the meekness and gentleness of Christ"!  And though "walking in the flesh, warring with weapons of warfare not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses... destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ"!  Wow, love that verse!
 
And all that set the tone for our lesson last night, on verses 7-18, a portion of Scripture which, interestingly, MacArthur once observed, was "one most preachers and teachers of the Word would not likely select to preach or teach on"!  Because "there's not any doctrine here, nothing to comfort the heart, or anything to intruct the mind on theological matters," he said!  Until he later preached on it himeself, and then formed a whole different impression!  And took "an about face," and, would you believe, preached four consecutive, rich sermons on it, on four consecutive Sunday services at Grace Community Church, which he entitled, "How to Recognize a True Man of God"!  (Which is what we talked about last nite!)
 
You see, the apostle Paul was answering his critics in this passage, and comparing and contrasting his ministry with that of the false teachers who had infiltrated the church of Corinth, and were questioning his integrity and trying to destroy his ministry!  They reasoned that if they could get the Corinthians to lose trust in Paul they could become the reigning teachers and bring on their their damnable lies and heresy, and thus destroy the work of Paul!
 
Jesus Himself, toward the end of His earthly ministry, warned that this would be coming!  In Matthew 7:15-16, he said, "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing (the garb of the so-called "shepherds"), but inwardly are ravenous wolves!  You will know them by their fruits!"  And Peter wrote, in II Peter 2:1-2, "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought then, bringing swift destruction upon themselves!  Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep!
 
In this same manner, and for this same reason, the apostle Paul urged Timothy (in II Timothy 4:2-4) to "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but wanting to have their ears tickled. They will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths...!"
 
It was a dangerous time in Corinth!  And so Paul begins, in verse 7 of our text, by challenging the Corinthians not to look at things superficially, but to look at things rationally as they are before their eyes--and to be discerning in seeing the obvious contrast between him and the false teachers, and (as John Neal noted) to "judge their ministries through observation, identifying and being able to separate fact from fiction"!
 
The Corinthians had been saved through the ministry of Paul; he was the founder ot the church of Corinth and their "spiritual father"!  They knew of his conversion experience of the Damascus road, and how his life was changed!  Of his apostleship, and of the mandate he had received from Christ to be preach the gospel!  They knew of the zealousness and impact of his teaching!  And of the life he lived before them!  His track record was clear, in stark contrast with that of the false teachers!  How could they not see through this?  How could they join this mutiny against him, he must have wondered!  How could they possibly believe these false teachers were the true apostles and that he was a false apostle, as they claimed?
 
"A true man of God can be known by his relationship with Jesus Christ," MacArthur notes!
 
In verse 8, he writes that "even if he has to boast of his authority (as an apostle!) which the Lord gave him for building up and not destroying them, he would not be put to shame!" The impact he had on the lives of the Corinthians, and the evidence there and plain for all to see--again in stark contrast to the false teachers who were only trying to tear it all down!
 
"A true man of God can be known not only by his own relationship with Christ but by the impact he has on the church, the body of believers," notes MacArthur!
 
In verse 9, Paul writes that he "did not wish to seem as if to terrify the Corinthians by his letters," as false teachers accused him of doing--making him out to be an abuser and "brow beater" who tried to intimidate them by his letters, using perhaps Paul's "severe letter" to make their case!  And while Paul was concerned himself, at least initially, that that particular letter might have made them sorrowful, although only for a time, he "could now rejoice, not that the letter made them sorrowful but that they were made sorrowful to the point of repentance, a sorrow that was according to the will of God, producing a repentance without regret, leading to salvation"!  And so even that letter, as was the case for all his letters, were really written to bring them to salvation and sanctification, and so demonstrating the deep love and concern that he had for them!  
 
"A true man of God is known for his compassion for people," writes MacArthur!
 
And along the same line, in a culture that highly valued skillful rhetoric and eloquent oration, with a bit of charisma, the false teachers were accusing him of being two-sided and, basically, "a wimp"!  "While his letters were weighty and strong, his personal presence was unimpressive and his speech contemptible," they said!  Paul didn't dispute this sarcasm!  It's true that while Paul repudiated "eloquent sophistry," though clearly capable of expressing it, he preferred instead to preach the gospel in simplicity and power!  In I Corinthians 2:1-5, he explained it, by writing: "When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech, or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.  For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified!  I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of man, but on the power of God!"
 
Paul claimed that, despite what they said, or thought they observed, "he was the same person in the words of his letters, when absent, as he was in their presence"!  "What we are in word by letters when absent, we are also in deed when present," he wrote in verse 11!  He was not a hypocrite; and his integrity was unimpeachable!
 
In I Thessalonians 2:4, he wrote, "But just as we have been approved by God, to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God!"
 
"A true man of God is known by his distain for fleshly methods, and he seeks in all he does to please the Lord," writes MacArthur!
 
In verse 12, he writes that he was not bold to classify himself with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding!"  (The Phillips' translation puts it this way: "Of course we shouldn't dare include ourselves in the same class as those who write their own testimonials, or even compare ourselves with them!  All they are doing, of course, is to measure themselves by their own standards or by comparisons within their own circle, and that doesn't make for accurate estimation, you may be sure!"
 
"There's no more noble Christian virtue than humility, the genuine conviction that one is utterly and completely unworthy of the goodness, mercy, and grace of God!"
 
Paul summed up the attitude of a humble person when he wrote, in II Corinthians 3:5, "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything in coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God!"
 
In Galatian 6:3-4, he wrote, "For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another!"
 
Micah 6:8 says, "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly before your God!
 
"A true man of God is known by his humility, and he will not compare himself with others," writes MacArthur1
 
But verse 13 goes even further in discussing humility!  "But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you!  Wow!
 
"Paul did not chafe under his God-ordained limits; he did not want to have a bigger or more important ministry than God intended for him.  He was perfectly content with the sphere of ministry that God intended for him!  He focused on excellence rather than success; on the quality of his ministry rather than on its size, on the depth of his ministry and not on its breadth" (again, spoken by our dear departed brother, MacArthur)
 
Even Christ placed limits on his ministry!  He said (in John 5:30) that He "did not seek His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him"!
 
"A humble messenger of God is willing to minister within limits," writes MacArthur!
 
Then, in verses 14-16, Paul writes that "we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for we were the first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ, not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men's labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be within our sphere, enlarged even more by you, so as to preach the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not to boast in what has been accomplished in the sphere of another!"
 
(This is the passage that A. B. Simpson, who founded the the "Christain Missionay Allliance," and the missionary-oriented Nyack College (and where my oldest daughter graduated!) must have had in mind when he wrote that great missionary hymn, "To the regions beyond I must go, I must go, where the story has never been told; to the millions that never have heard of His love, I must tell the sweet story of old...til the world, all the world, His salvation shall know...!)
 
But wherever the message goes, "the humble messenger of God is unwilling to take credit for others' labors," writes MacArthur!
 
And so where is it appropriate for one to boast, one might ask!  Paul answers that, in verses 17-18, by writing: "But he who boasts, is to boast in the Lord!  For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends!"
 
David (a "man after God's own heart") wrote in Psalm 20:7, "Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the Lord!"  Adding in Psalm 34:2, "My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear it and rejoice!"  And Jeremiah writes (in Jeremiah 9:23-24), "Thus says the Lord, 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might; let not the rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,' declares the Lord!"  (Paul may have had this passage in mind when he wrote verse 17, and earlier when he wrote I Corinthians 1:31, "Just as it is written, 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord!")
 
"The humble messenger of God has a willingness to seek only the Lord's glory," writes MacArthur!
 
And he writes a fitting summation of last night's passage for us to remember (and marvel):  "The Corinthians should have been able to tell the difference between true and false spiritual leaders, and so should today's church!  True men of God are not 'showmen;' they don't intimidate people;  they do not seek to promote themselves; they value truth enough not to tolerate error; they seek to imitate the meekness of Jesus Christ; they have a high view of Scripture and preach the true, unadulterated gospel; they are content to minister within the sphere in which God has for them; they lead lives consistent with their teaching; they don't take credit for others' work; and they seek God's eternal glory, not temporal acclaim!  The man who in this way serves God is acceptable to God, and approved by men!"   
 
And that is something our dear brother, John (now gone on to his reward) could legitimately "boast" about (but wouldn't)!
 
Walk with the Lord, and be a blessing!
 
Til we meet again!
 
Lowell

"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ!"  (II Corinthians 10:5)
 
In last week's lesson (on II Corinthians 9:10-15), the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers that God "who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness...and that you will be enriched in everything for your liberality which through us is producing thanksgiving to God"!  The "ministry" of your giving, he wrote, was "not only fully supplying the needs" of the poverty-stricken saints in the church of Jerusalem, but also "overflowing through many thanksgivings to God; and their obedience to the confession of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the liberality of their contributions was causing them to glorify God"!  Which, as the Westminister Catechism notes, is "the chief end of man"!  ("To glorify God and enjoy Him forever!")
 
But, as Rod pointed out to us last week, Paul's larger purpose, in getting the Corinthians to give, was to bring them to the place where they were "walking in the ways of the Lord"!  And we turned to the Bible to learn more about what it means to walk with the Lord.  Psalm 128:1 says, "How blessed is the one who fears the Lord and walks in His ways"!  And John writes (in I John 1:7), "If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin"!
 
And we sang a memorable song which rang out this truth!  "O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You!  I will see You in the morning, and I will learn to walk in Your ways; and step by step You will lead me, and I will follow You all of my days!"
 
And that set the scene for our lesson last night, on II Corinthians 10:1-6, which begins with a "now," indicating a whole new theme!  And we find Paul's tone and tenor changing from being gracious and conciliatory (as it was in the first nine chapters) to being strong and authoritative, and confrontational--as he answers his accusers, defends his integrity, and introduces a "warfare motif"--writing about a spiritual battle in which he and all believers--and particularly the Corinthian believers--are involved on a daily basis!
 
The apostle Paul saw the Christian life as "a battle" (a spiritual battle!) and himself as a "soldier of Jesus Christ"!  From the beginning, with his conversion, until the very end, it was "war"!  And he wrote in light of it!  
 
He challenged Timothy (in I Timothy 6:120 to "fight the good fight of faith," and to "take hold of the eternal life to which you are called"!  Then, in II Timothy 2:3, " to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ"!  Noting that "no man who warreth entangles himself with the affairs of this world"!
 
And he wrote that famous passage to the Ephesians (and to us!) in Ephesians 6:10-17, which says: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might!  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm agains the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand firm!  Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in additon to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God!  With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance for all the saints!"  Whew!
 
And so, at the end of his life, he was able to claim (as he wrote in II Timothy 4:6-11), "I have fought a good fight!  I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not only to me, but to all who have loved His appearing!"
 
MacArthur writes that Paul "battled every, facing each day as if it were his last...battling to protect the truth, battling to protect the gospel from assaults, battling to advance it, to conquer the satanic realm of error, to preserve the honor and advance the glory of his commander-in-chief, the Lord Jesus Christ...for the preservation of the Word of God...For the security and strength of the church...against demons...against false teachers...against philosophies and falsd religions...But nothing more ongoing and unrelenting than the warfare waged for the preservation of the Corinthian church"!
 
The apostle Paul had spent over a year and a half building and strengthening the church of Corith, but after leaving soon heard word that they were engaged in serious sin; and so he wrote the so-called "lost epistle," followed by I Corinthians, which contained a plethora of correctives to a church engaged in sins on many different levels! But then word came back that they were even more serious sins, and the arrival of false teachers assaulting him and the gospel; and so he sent what is known as "the severe letter," which he said (in II Corinthians 2:4) he wrote "out of much affliction and an anguished heart, with many tears," and sent with Titus--to confront their sin, "not to make them sorrowful, but that they might know of his love for them"!  And he was very depressed and downcast until he heard from Titus that the Corinthians had responded favorable to his letter and had repented, and even reported a longing for his return to them!  All of which brought him great comfort and led him to write (in II Corinthians 7:7-10) "that though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it--though I did regret it--for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while--I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance, without regret, leading to salvation!"  Wow!
 
Then he wrote II Corinthians, as MacArthur notes, "because he knew something any good soldier, and any good leader, knows--that though a rebellion has been for a moment ended, vestiges of it can be found in many places!"  He knew that "they were still some glowing embers from the fire of accusations against him and in some places ready to be fanned into flames at the first opportunity!  He knew false teachers were still hiding in the church!"
 
And so, in this final section of II Corinthians, Paul directs strong and bold words at those remaining rebels, the recalcitrant minority still entrenched there, hiding in the church!  He comes back with "weapons of war," and guns blazing!  Presenting himself in his soldier uniform with a soldier's mentality!
 
And it makes me want to sing again (as we did last night): "Onward Christian soldiers, marching off to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before...!"  Or the song I remember singing as a child, "I may never march in the infantry, ride in the calvary, shoot the artillary; I may never zoom o'er the enemy (I used to sing, "zoom over Germany"!), for I'm in the Lord's army..."  (Anybody ever sing that one?)
 
And he begins in verse 1 with, "Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ...identifying himself clearly and authoritatively, not only as the founder of the church of Corinth, but as the father of all believers there, and speaking as a called spokesman of God, with the gospel of Jesus Christ!  Not as a soldier of anger and revenge, but with the patience and compassion of Christ!
 
I Peter 2:19-20 says, "For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly!  For what credit is there, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience?  But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, this finds favor with God!"
 
Verses 21-24 (of I Peter 2) go on to say: "For you were called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds we ae healed!"
 
Matthew 12:20 (quoting from the prophet Isaiah) says, "A battered reed He (speaking of Christ) will not break off; and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory!"
 
John 8:7 records how He responded to the scribes and Pharisees when they brought before Him a woman caught in the act of adultery: And after scratching something in the dust on the ground, He looked up and said, "He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone!"
 
MacArthur noted that "even Jesus' most scathing and blistering diatribe against the religious leaders, ended up with him uttering: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks, but you would not!"
 
And so Paul, "the warrior," in this passage, responds (in verse 1) "with the meekness and gentleness of Christ!  ("A noble soldier, a great soldier, a soldier who will win the spiritual warfare is both compassionate and courages," MacArthur writes!)
 
And he describes himself the way his critics in Corinth viewed him: "meek when face to face with them, but bold toward them when absent" (and when writing his letters)!  They pictured him, basically, as "a wimp"--and even accused him of "walking according to the flesh"! (And, in verse 10, noted that "his letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible"!)
 
And so, in verses 3-4, he admits that as a natural man he does "walk in the flesh," but, more importantly, that he "does not war in the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powered for the destruction of fortresses"!  And he goes on to say, additionally in verse 5, that "we are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ..."!  (The Phillips' translation puts it this way: "Our battle is to bring down deceptive fantasy and every imposing defence that men erect against the true knowledge of God.  We even fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ!')
 
MacArthur writes that "the formidable spiritual strongholds manned by the forces of hell can be demolished only by spiritual weapons wielded by godly believers--singularly, the 'sword of the Spirit' (or the Bible!), since only the truth of God's Word can defeat Satan's falsehoods.  This is the spiritual warfare! Believers are instructed to assault error with truth!"
 
Jesus prayed to the Father, for His disciples, in John 17:17: "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth!"
 
And Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart!"
 
And not only are our weapons of warfare powerful enough for the destruction of mighty fortresses, but also able to "destroy speculations (or arguments) and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God"!  And this would include (again, according to MacArthur) "any thoughts, ideas, reasonings, philosophies, and false religions which are the forts in which men barricade themselves against God and the gospel"! "Taking the thoughts captive" involves "the rescuing of those inside from the damning lies that enslave them"!
 
The apostle Paul was ready and eager to return to Corinth, but he wanted to come with "meekness gentleness," but he was ready too, he wrote (in verses 3 nd 7) to be "courageous and bold"--and to "punish those who continue to disobey," if that was required!
 
There's war out there, my brothers!
 
And so, like Paul, "Fight the good fight of faith!"  And, "Put on the whole armor of God!"  And, "Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ!"  And, "Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ!"  And stay in the Word!  And "walk with the King, and be a blessing"!
 
Til we meet again!''
 
Lowell 

"Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness!"  (II Corinthians 9:10)
 
In last week's lesson (on verses 1-9), the apostle Paul, after noting to the Corinthians that it was "superfluous" (or totally unnecessary!) for him to write to them anything more about giving, since "they were so ready to give, and he had even boasted about it to the Macedonians," proceeded nevertheless to write more about giving anyway!  And he even "thought it necessary" to send Titus and two "brothers" from the Macedonian churches ahead to Corinth to arrange the collection and have it ready for him before he arrived--so he wouldn't be "embarassed, or see them put to shame" if he found them unprepared, or perhaps no longer as willing to give as they had promised!
 
And, as a further motivation (but without any intent to try to manipulate them!), he wrote that "he who sows sparingly would also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully would also sow bountifully"!  And that "each one must follow through in doing just as he had purposed in his heart--not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver"!  And he left them with that wonderful promise (in verse 8) that "God is able to make all grace abound to you so that always having all sufficiency in everything you may have an abundance for every good deed"!  Then ending with a reference to Psalm 112:9, where the Psalmist wrote: "He (speaking of God) scattered abroad, He gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever!"
 
And that set the scene for our lesson last night (on verses 10-15)--our fifth lesson on this subject--with Paul making reference to Isaiah 44:10, where Isaiah prophesies that "just as the Lord sends snow and water to replenish the earth, and seed to the sower, and bread to the eater (to satisfy the physical needs of people), so the Word which goes forth from His mouth will not return void but will accomplish the purpose for which it is sent"!
 
Similarly, the prophet Hosea prophesied this to God's people, Israel: "Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you!"  But then, in verses13-15: "You have plowed in wickedness; you have reaped injustice...thus it will be done to you at Bethel because of your wickedness!  At dawn the king of Israel will be completely cut off!"
 
And with this as the setting, Paul charges the Corinthians that it's time for them to "sow righteousness and seek the Lord, and to be imitators of Christ, and (as Rod emphasized last night) to "walk in His way"!  And, more specifically, to "prove" the genuineness of their faith through the act, or "ministry" (as Paul calls it), of giving!  And all for the purpose of showing thanksgiving to Christ, and bringing glory to God!  (II Corinthians 10:13 says, "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God"!)
 
And so, in verse 10, Paul writes that "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness,"--so that (verse 11, in ESV, says) "you will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way (in your giving!) which through us will produce thanksgiving (and bring glory!) to God"! 
 
And he goes on in verses 12-14, "For the ministry of this service (the collection!) is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you!"  And we are reminded (from 8:1) that the generosity of the churches of Macedonia was also motivated by God's grace"!
 
MacArthur notes that this "ministry of giving" provided the Corinthians an important opportunity for them to test (and affirm!) the genuineness of their faith!  And Swindoll adds that "we are never more like God than when we give"!  But Paul puts it all into it proper context by summarizing his discourse on the believers' act of giving, by comparing it with what God did in giving Jesus Christ, "His indescribable gift"!  And there's obviously no comparison!  We can't outgive God!
 
And so the goal of raising funds for the poverty-stricken saints in the church of Jerusalem was accomplished, bringing thanksgiving and glory to God!  But as Rod pointed out last night, the larger goal which the apostle Paul may have had in mind for the Corinthians' giving was "to bring them into walking in the ways of the Lord"!
 
And the question was raised: what does it mean to "walk in God's ways"?  The Bible has lots to say about it!

• Psalm 128:1 says, "How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, and walks in His ways!"
• Romans 6:4 says, "...So as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life!"
• Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared for them beforehand, so that we would walk in them!"
• Ephesians 5:2 challenges us to "walk in love, just as Christ also loved and gave Himself up for us, as an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma"!  And, in verse 8, "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light!"
• David's last words to Solomon, in I Kings 2:1-4, "Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes"... (then quoting words he received from the Lord): "If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you will not lack a man on the throne of God!"
• I John 1:7 says, "But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin!"
• And of course, John 14: 6, where Jesus says, "I am the way...!"

And we sang a memorable song, called "Walking in God's Ways," that rang out this truth!  And here are the words: 
 
"O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You!
O God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You!
And I will see you in the morning, and I will learn to walk in Your ways,
And step by step You'll lead me, and I will follow You all of my days!"
 
May that be our song, and our "walk," and our prayer!
 
And may our giving--though trivial as it is, in comparison with His "infinite gift" to us--produce "a harvest of righteousness" and bring glory to God!
 
Til we meet again!
 
Lowell