"No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds!" (II Corinthians 11:14-15)
Last week we saw the apostle Paul continuing to have to defend his integrity and his apostleship against the false teachers who had infiltrated the church of Corinth, not to protect his own reputation but to continue to keep alive the ongoing ministry that God had established among them through him!
And being the humble man of God that he was, he felt foolish in having to put the spotlight on himself by having to defend his integrity and his ministry to them--something they should have been able to see for themselves! And he expressed the same kind of "godly jealousy" for their welfare as God had for Israel! God, in Old Testament times, had jealously guarded His people from the deceitfulness of deceivers who sought to drive their affections away Him, while charging them not to forget His covenant or make graven images! And Paul felt this same "pain of God's jealousy" when His name was dishonored by the Corinthians!
And, as you'll remember, he used a simple analogy (in verse 2) to descrbe his concern for whatever dishonored God in the life of the church, using the analogy of a father betrothing his virgin daughter to her would-be husband and, in that regard, striving to keep her pure and faithful until the consumation of the marriage! Just as Christ loved the church (His bride!) and, Ephesians 5:25-26 says, "gave Himself 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"! And Revelation 19:6-9 describes the coming scene in heaven someday when all "the redeemed" of all the ages will rise and be gathered together by the throne of God to participate in the "marriage supper of the Lamb," and His bride, the church!
But Paul expressed fear (in verse 3), you'll recall, 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!
And we remembered how Jesus warned, in Matthew 7:15-16, that "false prophets would come in sheep's clothing (the garb of shepherds!), but inwardly would be revenous wolves"! And how Peter wrote (in II Peter 2:1-2) that "in the last days false teachers will rise who secretly will introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them..."!
According to verse 4, false teachers had already infiltrated the church of Corinth, and Paul writes (somewhat sarcastically), that they (the Corithian believers!) had apparently "received" and even "cheerfully welcomed those who preached a different Jesus than the one he preached, and a spirit and a gospel quite different from what they had not previously accepted"! In a similar situation, Paul wrote (in Galatians 1:6-9) how the Galatians "had so quickly deserted Him who called them by the grace of God for a different gospel," and he wrote he said, "as we have said before that 'If any man is preaching a gospel contrary to the one what they had received (from him!), he is to be accursed"!
Then Paul ended our lesson last week by writing that, "even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things"!
And that sets the scene for our lesson on March 24, where begins (in verse 7) where we find the apostle Paul still on the defensive, and now posing the somewhat strange question (again with a note of sarcasm): "Did I commit a sin in humbling myself so tha you might be exalted (or "lifted up," as believers), because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?"
As Constable notes, Paul "claimed the freedom to minister in Corinth without receiving financial support from the Corinthians in order to illustrate his self-sacrificing love for his readers, and to contrast his attitude with his critics' selfishness...and is digressing here (in verses 7-12) to defend his policy regarding his own financial support, and (in verses 13-15) to describe his opponents true identity"!
Interestingly, Paul had written earlier (in I Corinthians 9:6 and14) that apostles "had the right to refrain from working for a living and to live off the gifts of their audiences;" and yet he chose to work, making tents in Corinth and refusing to accept gifts from the Corinthians (thus humbling himself)! And the fact that he did this was actually used by the Corinthians not as evidence of his love for them but, instead, as proof that he really wasn't an apostle!
Acts 18:3 says that when he first arrived in Corinth he practiced his trade as a "tent-maker" and followed his policy of not accepting money from the churches while he was establishing them but only taking it from those that were already established! And as he put it, he "in effect robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you" (the Corinthians)! And he says in verse 9 that "when he was present with them and was in need, he was not a burden to anyone," because "brethren came from Macedonia to supply his need"! And he said he "would continue to follow this policy"!
And why was Paul responding in this way? He says, in verse 12, basically to cut off the opportunity of those who thought he was only in to his ministry for money! To separate himself from the false teachers who did it this way! God knew his heart, he claimed! And he did what he did because he loved the Corinthians!
Again, unlike the false teachers who he said (in verse 13) were "false apostle, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ"! And (in verses 14-15), "no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light! And therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds"!
Constable notes that "in our own day, when people value toleration so highly and practice it so widely, even in the church, we need to learn from Paul's example of "calling a spade a spade"! The welfare of those under Paul's ministry required him to identify his critics for who they really were! We will serve our own generation faithfully if we do the same!"
II John 1:9-10 says, "Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son! If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds!"
Hold firm, men, in the teachings of Jesus! And go with God!
Til we meet again (on April 7th)!
Happy Easter!
Lowell
Last week we saw the apostle Paul continuing to have to defend his integrity and his apostleship against the false teachers who had infiltrated the church of Corinth, not to protect his own reputation but to continue to keep alive the ongoing ministry that God had established among them through him!
And being the humble man of God that he was, he felt foolish in having to put the spotlight on himself by having to defend his integrity and his ministry to them--something they should have been able to see for themselves! And he expressed the same kind of "godly jealousy" for their welfare as God had for Israel! God, in Old Testament times, had jealously guarded His people from the deceitfulness of deceivers who sought to drive their affections away Him, while charging them not to forget His covenant or make graven images! And Paul felt this same "pain of God's jealousy" when His name was dishonored by the Corinthians!
And, as you'll remember, he used a simple analogy (in verse 2) to descrbe his concern for whatever dishonored God in the life of the church, using the analogy of a father betrothing his virgin daughter to her would-be husband and, in that regard, striving to keep her pure and faithful until the consumation of the marriage! Just as Christ loved the church (His bride!) and, Ephesians 5:25-26 says, "gave Himself 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"! And Revelation 19:6-9 describes the coming scene in heaven someday when all "the redeemed" of all the ages will rise and be gathered together by the throne of God to participate in the "marriage supper of the Lamb," and His bride, the church!
But Paul expressed fear (in verse 3), you'll recall, 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!
And we remembered how Jesus warned, in Matthew 7:15-16, that "false prophets would come in sheep's clothing (the garb of shepherds!), but inwardly would be revenous wolves"! And how Peter wrote (in II Peter 2:1-2) that "in the last days false teachers will rise who secretly will introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them..."!
According to verse 4, false teachers had already infiltrated the church of Corinth, and Paul writes (somewhat sarcastically), that they (the Corithian believers!) had apparently "received" and even "cheerfully welcomed those who preached a different Jesus than the one he preached, and a spirit and a gospel quite different from what they had not previously accepted"! In a similar situation, Paul wrote (in Galatians 1:6-9) how the Galatians "had so quickly deserted Him who called them by the grace of God for a different gospel," and he wrote he said, "as we have said before that 'If any man is preaching a gospel contrary to the one what they had received (from him!), he is to be accursed"!
Then Paul ended our lesson last week by writing that, "even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things"!
And that sets the scene for our lesson on March 24, where begins (in verse 7) where we find the apostle Paul still on the defensive, and now posing the somewhat strange question (again with a note of sarcasm): "Did I commit a sin in humbling myself so tha you might be exalted (or "lifted up," as believers), because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?"
As Constable notes, Paul "claimed the freedom to minister in Corinth without receiving financial support from the Corinthians in order to illustrate his self-sacrificing love for his readers, and to contrast his attitude with his critics' selfishness...and is digressing here (in verses 7-12) to defend his policy regarding his own financial support, and (in verses 13-15) to describe his opponents true identity"!
Interestingly, Paul had written earlier (in I Corinthians 9:6 and14) that apostles "had the right to refrain from working for a living and to live off the gifts of their audiences;" and yet he chose to work, making tents in Corinth and refusing to accept gifts from the Corinthians (thus humbling himself)! And the fact that he did this was actually used by the Corinthians not as evidence of his love for them but, instead, as proof that he really wasn't an apostle!
Acts 18:3 says that when he first arrived in Corinth he practiced his trade as a "tent-maker" and followed his policy of not accepting money from the churches while he was establishing them but only taking it from those that were already established! And as he put it, he "in effect robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you" (the Corinthians)! And he says in verse 9 that "when he was present with them and was in need, he was not a burden to anyone," because "brethren came from Macedonia to supply his need"! And he said he "would continue to follow this policy"!
And why was Paul responding in this way? He says, in verse 12, basically to cut off the opportunity of those who thought he was only in to his ministry for money! To separate himself from the false teachers who did it this way! God knew his heart, he claimed! And he did what he did because he loved the Corinthians!
Again, unlike the false teachers who he said (in verse 13) were "false apostle, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ"! And (in verses 14-15), "no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light! And therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds"!
Constable notes that "in our own day, when people value toleration so highly and practice it so widely, even in the church, we need to learn from Paul's example of "calling a spade a spade"! The welfare of those under Paul's ministry required him to identify his critics for who they really were! We will serve our own generation faithfully if we do the same!"
II John 1:9-10 says, "Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son! If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds!"
Hold firm, men, in the teachings of Jesus! And go with God!
Til we meet again (on April 7th)!
Happy Easter!
Lowell
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