Stand Strong in the Word
Stand Strong in the Word is a weekly bible study that teaches through the Bible verse by verse in chronological order. For more information, visit www.standstrongministries.org.
Stand Strong in the Word
#293 “Spotting Lies in Disguise: Unmasking False Apostles” Part 1 (2 Corinthians 11:5-12)
Have you ever wondered how even the sneakiest lies can disguise themselves as the truth? In 2 Corinthians 11:5-12, Paul calls out certain false apostles who distort the gospel and lead people astray. In this passage, we will see how passionately Paul defends the genuine message of Jesus. So, grab your Bible and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, and let’s stand strong in the Word of God together!
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Have you ever wondered how even the sneakiest lies can disguise themselves as the truth? In 2 Corinthians 11, verses 5-15, paul calls out certain false apostles who distort the gospel and lead people astray. In this passage we will see how passionately Paul defends the genuine message of Jesus. So grab your Bible and turn to 2 Corinthians 11, and let's stand strong in the Word of God together. Well, hey there, my friends, I pray that you are blessed in the Lord and that you are indeed standing strong in God's word, and I'm so blessed, as always, to be with you guys as we continue our study here in the book of 2 Corinthians.
Speaker 1:We are now transitioning into a phase, kind of the centerpiece of this passage, and I titled it Spotting Lies in Disguise, how we Are to Unmask False Apostles, and who better to learn from than Paul himself? Mask false apostles, and who better to learn from than Paul himself? And, as I asked the question in the opening, you know oftentimes when you do look at your life and you see even those sneakiest little lies or how people kind of manipulate and use deception. The older I have gotten in the ministry especially, I see how naive I was in my early years, just how gullible I was to many things and oftentimes, just because I just didn't really know, I never really studied something specifically. And then, of course, when you are grounded, when you are mature and you are standing strong in God's word, you will easily, more quickly, with discernment, right, with the power and direction and conviction of Holy Spirit, know falsehood from the truth. And so today I really want us to kind of highlight this thing and this is an ongoing theme, if you've been with me now since first Corinthians, particularly in second Corinthians, because Paul's addressing the sin, they repent and then through that he also then wants to shelter them and protect them because there are people who are preying upon them. And I just want to tell you guys my heart in this, pastorally Again, having children, four kids and seeing the way the world operates and knowing the enemy and his tactics and his devices and his wiles, and seeing, sadly, the scandals, one after the other that are unfolding. Now the good news is they're being exposed and I like what recently John MacArthur had said in response to Steve Lawson, which I'm going to be putting out a video on my YouTube channel that I encourage you guys to check out Stand Strong with Jason Jimenez, where you know Steve Lawson.
Speaker 1:After you know, it came out that he was having an affair. He was committing adultery. It was sexual, from what we see, allegedly. Let me just add that, because we don't fully know all the details, but he was removed from ministry. He has since said that he is repentant and he's getting help. We pray that's true, but there's a lot of issues that go on with this man because he was leading people astray, I think in some of his doctrine, calvinistically, but also he was deceiving people because he was not accountable and he was a quote preacher of God's word, one of the premier reformed preachers and theologians, and yet he was living a double life. So that is one prime example that I will actually share with you. As we look at the context of scripture here and we have to talk about some of these things, they will make us cry, they will make us upset, they will break us. I pray they will humble us.
Speaker 1:Certainly, when I investigate this stuff, and the reason I do it is because we see in scripture that we are to expose false teachers. Jesus did it, paul did it, jude did it, john did it in his later years, especially when he was one of the last remaining apostles, to expose these lies so people can follow the truth. Just read his epistles and see how he challenged the church. And there's a heart, there's a shepherd's heart there and I love it and hopefully you can hear the tone of my voice that I am pleading to all of my faithful listeners out there that we need to be aware of false apostles because they are among us and this is something that Paul really strove to drive home and I pray, as we get into this, that we will be aware of some of these false teachers, these false apostles, and to recognize that and to pray for them. But my heart, first and foremost, is to protect the flock first and this is Paul's passionate desire because, again, things can disguise a certain way and they can distort and they can lead people astray and you can see massive consequences.
Speaker 1:I just had lunch recently with a friend and he shared about a loved one in his family, because of hypocrisy, because of scandal, has left the faith, and this is what I hear oftentimes. My friends and what I would love to do if this person was willing, is to hear about their wounds, about the distrust and the sad reality is. I know a lot of the focus was probably on the institution or the makeup of ministry, with the people that were building the platform, and so the person got lost in that and took their eyes off of Jesus, which happens, and so it's easier said than done to say, well, just look to Jesus. Well, that's true, but these people that they were relying on were pointing them to Jesus and through hypocrisy, it devastated them. Pointing them to Jesus and through hypocrisy, it devastated them, and I think we got to validate that. But have those hard talks right To help people work through them and unfortunately, a lot of times, people don't want to do that, and so Paul's having that type of conversation with people here.
Speaker 1:So let's dive right in where we left off again. As always, if you have missed out on anything, check out the podcast, download it, give us a review. Wherever you get your podcasts, share that with your friends so we can continue to grow this family of people who want to stand strong in God's word as Christian brothers and sisters all around the world. But where we left off we were talking about, particularly when you look at Paul presenting the church member and he, he, he says I come to you with a divine jealousy, and that's one reason and I'm just pleading and sharing this from my heart to pastors listening, anybody who is in a position, I think, or have the responsibility of shepherding you should have a divine jealousy, as Paul has here, that your job is to present your congregants as a pure virgin to Christ, just like all the husbands listening. Our job is to present our wives as a holy and beloved church, without spot or wrinkle. That's one of our primary responsibilities in ministry. So, yes, when you do take advantage of that. When you're not doing that, when you don't show that kind of care and I apologize because, even as I'm sharing that, you get emotional.
Speaker 1:Because what happens, my friends, here in verse 3, is deception, cunningness. There's an enemy and we are to guard the flock when Jesus pleaded with Peter to tend to care, to love, to protect his sheep. Later we're going to see in 2 Corinthians 11, where Paul shares all of the issues that he had faced Hardships and sufferings From being beaten, from being lashed, from being shipwrecked, from going hungry, and yet he says the greater concern that he has is his anxiety over the church. Why? Because he loved the church, he loved the people that God had called him to shepherd. And sadly, in the ministry today. You look around and you just see performance. You see people who are about sales and success and clicks and numbers and views, and I'm like, do you really love the people? It's not about you loving what you do, but loving the people that you are called to minister to.
Speaker 1:And so this is the heart where we left off about how Satan uses and we talked about cunningness. So I encourage you, even if you listened to it and you forgot, go back to that. And then we see him referring in verse four to different Jesus, like another Jesus he talks about in a different spirit and a different gospel. So I really encourage you guys to look at that. And I encourage you also to look at 2 Corinthians 10, verses one through five, and coincide it to 2 Corinthians 11, verses one through four, and see a lot of parallelism. That's there. So this is now where we pick things up, in verse five, where he says indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge. Indeed, in every way, we have made this plain to you in all things. So Paul was not intimidated by these so-called magnificent and mighty. He calls them super apostles. So think of them like being marvel characters.
Speaker 1:The reputation that these people had, these people were superior. Remember, in jesus's time and still clearly in the time of paul. But just surrounding jesus's ministry were the sanhedrin. You know, paul's now speaking specifically to the Corinthians, these Greek people. So these were Gentiles. Jesus's ministry centered mainly to the Jews, right, because he said he came first to the Jews and then, through that, the church would reach out to more of the Gentiles. Not to say that Jesus didn't minister, because we see with the Syrophoenician woman, et cetera, that Jesus indeed ministered to people who were non-Jew, who were not Jewish.
Speaker 1:I should say that Jesus indeed ministered to people who were non-Jew, who were not Jewish. I should say so here. What Paul's doing is he is confronting these individuals in this intelligence, in this community. Where it was about the intellect, it was about the reputation that you had, that you were like, again, very Socratic, very philosophical, and so Paul is not intimidated by these people, nor was he going to be playing the game to try to prove to them that he belonged in their group or was trying to find their acceptance. Remember, they were bringing a different level of apostleship. Now we know it was not ordained by Jesus. There's a mandate that we see you can see from Galatians, chapter one to first Corinthians, chapter nine, about the mandate, and you can also see the criteria that was issued there in Acts, chapter one, with Matthias after replacing Judas Iscariot. So we clearly know that these were not genuine apostles ordained by Jesus himself.
Speaker 1:Now we don't know precisely who exactly these super apostles were, but I do think it's interesting because here in verse 22, let me just read this in the same chapter here he says are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. So more than likely a lot of these super apostles had Hebrew roots.
Speaker 1:And then in verse six, paul here, because when he's talking about unskilled in speaking and but not so in knowledge, and he said we've made this plain to you. So notice, this is a problem. Paul was constantly being compared to these orators, these speakers, how much more skilled they were and how more persuasive they were. And you can really get sucked into this and start becoming more performance driven. Just listen how the cultural background.
Speaker 1:Study Bible puts it Paul's letters reveal strong logic in mastery of ancient argumentation. But Greeks expected not only strong content but also delivery expressed in forceful tone, the appropriate accent, gestures and so forth. Even the most eloquent orators often demeaned their abilities before displaying them in their orations. But Paul could not compete with his rivals on delivery. The philosophic tradition, however, emphasized that content here he refers to as knowledge mattered more than style. End quote.
Speaker 1:So this is why, then, paul says here in verse 7, or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. Now, when he says I robbed other churches, he's not a robber, he's not a stealer. He wasn't breaking in the churches, you know, with a mask on. He's not saying that. Okay.
Speaker 1:What Paul's doing here in verse seven and eight is he's using a bit of hyperbole. So I love this, because what he does is he goes outside of the style and the way in which orators express themselves, the demeaning their skillset, et cetera. It's like the performance-driven shows that we have America's Got Talent, the Voice, american Idol, when you're trying to out-compete your other individual like the other competitor on the show. That's what these people did and they're known for it, and we still have it today. That's not going to go away. That's human nature. It's a sinful nature. Paul doesn't go there. Rather, what he does is he shares how hard he worked to provide for his own needs in order to avoid the appearance of him taking advantage of these particular individuals here in Corinth.
Speaker 1:And so Paul's critics, they use that against him. They actually discredit him and said man, if you were actually as skilled as us, you could be doing this full time, you could be making money off of this, but you're not that skilled, you're not that good, so you're not a professional. Guys, it's the same thing in my line of work today as a speaker. It's how many gigs do you have? How much do you get paid? And so then you get to this level of how you are paid. Do you have an agent? Are you part of a speaking bureau? If so, how many gigs do they get? Are you compared to Tim Tebow's of the world? You know that kind of a thing.
Speaker 1:That's what was happening here and that's how his critics because in Greco-Roman culture was, it was considered an insult. It was a sign of rejection if you didn't accept a gift. So when Paul was not accepting gifts, they saw that as a sign of, oh, you think you're better than us? Or if the gift was not as high as another oratorist, because I'm better than you. And the same applies today. We just have to be careful here, because what Paul is saying is his manual labor was a very humbling posture and we know in Jewish culture that was actually a good thing, but it was not in the Greeks. So when it came to the Greek culture they're saying, hey, you got to put away those things. I know you're a Jew, I know you're Hebrew, but I mean, come on, like that's low class and if you're going to be one of the educators in our life and you're going to have impact in our culture, you have to put that away.
Speaker 1:So when he says it was free of charge again remember Paul was a tent maker you go back to Acts 18, verse 3. You go back to the first letter here in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 4 through 18. We know that he did receive some support in verse 11, verse 9, in order for him to pursue the missionary work that God had called him. So it wasn't like he was buying a new house or a new nice you know Tesla boat or something like that. He was making sure that he was taking what he was given, that he can live off as he was doing manual labor, but also the times in which people gave donations he was able to use for the ministry. The same thing, like we do today, all of the donations that we receive in our ministry go to funding and fuel for the ministry. The same thing, like we do today, all of the donations that we receive in our ministry go to funding and fueling the ministry. 100% of it. It helps me do it full-time so I can put out content like this, so I can speak in places that can't afford speakers like us, but we're able to put a budget together to be able to put video content out, to put articles together, to be able to put video content out, to put articles. Paul was doing that free of charge and he expresses his appreciation.
Speaker 1:Remember, if you go back to the letter of Philippians, remember how he expressed, how he appreciated, how they supported him when he left Macedonia and they partnered with him, and so when Paul was ministering to the Corinthians and I think in part the reason why he was not taking a lot of their income. One thing we do see, or I should say we saw in the last letter, was a lot of them didn't have a lot of wealth and the ones who did, who were very influenced by these false apostles. Paul didn't want to be mixed up in that, he wanted to be above that, and so the Philippians were definitely a culture of people where it just made more sense to get support from them than from the Corinthians, and I totally relate with that. There are just some people where, um, I've never asked them to prayerfully consider giving just because of my relationship with them. I just don't feel the Lord has, has has called us to have that kind of relationship, and there's also people that you don't, because they want to use that to maybe have leverage or to, and I've had that, minister, unfortunately. So I think there's discernment that Paul has here.
Speaker 1:Now notice, in verse nine he says and when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need, so I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. I love this For all the people listening. We have to ensure that we are not a burden to people. Paul didn't want to be a burden or cause anything to interfere with his ministry to the Corinthians. That's how sensitive he was. And then we're even told in Acts, chapter 18, verse 5, that two of his companions, silas and Timothy they came with a generous gift from the Christians in Macedonia. They came with a generous gift from the Christians in Macedonia, and so that was times where they stepped in and they provided for him, and he was very grateful. He wasn't taking advantage of it, he wasn't heightening his popularity or he wasn't using his speaking fees as a way to take advantage of the people.
Speaker 1:The only boasting that Paul engaged in was sharing how he sacrificed many things for them because of his great love for them. That's not what false apostles do. If you are around people who take advantage of you, who are using you, who are exploiting you, that's a false teacher. Now, a false apostle was trying to use the positions that these apostles had and to leverage that. So just like we have today, where people falsely go around calling themselves an apostle when in fact they're not. And so when Paul says in verse 10, as the truth of Christ is in me. This boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. Now, what we don't really know up to this point is if, in fact, the Corinthians had already been supporting Paul to some degree or at some point. But I think what he was sharing with them is that he wanted to highlight the generosity of the Macedonians, like in the larger region of that area. And when he says, this boasting of mine will not be silenced, paul didn't want anything to hinder his ministry to the Corinthians and preferred to do so without expecting anything in return.
Speaker 1:So let me just ask you this question how many of you, when you look at your surroundings, the people that oversee your soul, your spiritual leaders, the people that you turn to that are shepherding your soul, are supposed to be shepherding your soul? How many of them boast in the Lord? How many of them are not taking advantage of you, but rather, when they do something, they're not expecting anything in return? That's very important. Recently I had a conversation and I took a friend out to have a meal and in returning he's like hey, I want you to come through and be able to do this. You know it's my treat. I said. You know what I just? I appreciate that so much. Thank you for that generosity, thank you for that.
Speaker 1:But let me just say my time with you right now is just that I just want to get to know you. So I'm not here to ask you for anything other than that you and I can have a relationship. That is what Paul's doing here. He is relating to them in a way to say I am not taking advantage of you. I've relied on other churches, through the help of Silas and Timothy and others, to be able to continue the ministry that God has called us to do. And then I love this too because, as we're concluding this portion, if you see what Paul's doing here, he asks questions like and why? Because I do not love you, god knows I do. This is amazing because it's just like when you and I are having a conversation. And why would you think that you don't think I love you? Of course I love you and it's a powerful way to really connect with someone, to remind them, even as you're facing some hard conversations, just like Paul's here right now.
Speaker 1:You know, these Corinthians believe that Paul had breached certain cultural conventions and they're so caught up in it and then they're comparing them to these other you know false apostles and saying, well, why isn't Paul conducting himself like this? But everything he did was for them and the reason why he did it for them and would work so hard and not ask them for anything is because he wanted to make sure he was above reproach, because he loved him that much and he also realized the stakes. He realized their environment. He did understand their culture, probably many ways better than they did, because he had the Holy Spirit giving him discernment. But he had surrendered that and it was not about him. So here now in verse 12, when he says and what am I doing? I will continue to do in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boast admission they work in the same terms as we do. Let me read for you the New Living Translation, because it really highlights more of the terminology. It's more graphic, it says so that I may cut off that's ecto opportunity aphor more from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.
Speaker 1:So here's the thing what people were doing as false apostles. Remember they had their way. They're building their ministry through exploiting people, they are having a certain standard. This is the way that you do it. So when Paul comes on, who's a true, genuine apostle, and they're like that kind of sounds a little different, wait a second. So he only does this part-time. We just had this orator who is full-time and we support this person and other people in our neighborhood support this person. But, paul, you're not being supported, you're not doing this full time. And if you're not doing this full time, then you don't really mean what you say, because if you really believed in preaching the gospel, then you wanna be a tent maker. I mean, that's kind of low class, it's kind of sketch. How can you be doing that and then try to be doing this, but then, on the flip side, when you do see the fruit, you do see God clearly using Paul, the false apostles will say oh, yeah, yeah, paul, sure you know, we're totally, we're buds, we're just like him, and that's what they would do. It just depends on the environment.
Speaker 1:And so what Paul's testimony here, what he's saying, it's, it's marked with integrity and that's what they wanted. Because at the end of the day, when you have somebody who's exploiting you, that is somebody who is a charlatan, and we have to be aware of this. They don't have integrity and that was undeniable to the Corinthians. They can have their little issues with Paul thinking, yeah, it's a little below him that he should be a tent maker and that's a little unacceptable to us in our culture. But that aside, he didn't oppose the Corinthians. He conducted himself in a manner that was respectful. It was above reproach. And you know, I actually wanna end it there today, because in the next part I'm gonna explore verses 13 and 15 a little bit more to go deeper and make it a part two where these false apostles really show their true colors. And I think it's a very fascinating portion of scripture that I encourage you, before we dive in to the next episode, that you guys take time to really study. So I can't wait to dive into those passages with you guys later.
Speaker 1:And so, as we close, let me just say a couple things. One, thank you guys for your prayer support. You're listening to this podcast and this is a blessing to you. I do want to ask that you continue to pray for this ministry. You're listening to this podcast and this is a blessing to you. I do want to ask that you continue to pray for this ministry. You can go to standstrongministriesorg.
Speaker 1:We have other resources made available for you guys to help you guys stand strong in your faith with wise thinking and bold living. Check out the books, the articles and the videos. You can also go to YouTube. Stand Strong with Jason Menez. Follow me on social media and know that as we gather and we study the Word of God to prepare it for you, we do so with a humble heart and we also want the people listening to know that if you have any questions, if you find yourself in a situation where you are questioning your leadership or the enemy's attacking and you don't know what to do, you can contact us by going to stanstrongministriesorg, click the contact button and submit whatever is burning your heart or whatever prayer requests you may have, or maybe even some theological questions you have, and I will always do my best to respond to you guys in a timely manner. Lord bless you guys. Until next time, keep standing strong in the word of God.