How many of you here have been associated with a preventable tragedy?
What I'm talking about here are bad things that happened to people you knew or know which could have been prevented. These bad things would not have happened if someone hadn't been ignorant or naïve, or unprepared, or careless or if someone had not failed to heed warnings or had taken proper precautions.
I began asking myself this question after thoroughly contemplating this passage last week.
And it's funny how often the earliest memory that came to mind of a preventable tragedy was the first in my experience. I was probably seven years old, and my little sister Kim was four when we were playing in the backyard, near the garage one Saturday afternoon in Southern California. My dad was repairing something in the garage, and he had opened a pocketknife to help him with some repair, and he had left it open on the lawn. My sister, who apparently had not been forewarned of the danger of playing with sharp knives found it and began playing with it. She began throwing it at the grass, enjoying seeing how the sharp blade would penetrate the lawn. However, she was not aware of how the sharp blade might penetrate her own flesh. Very quickly, her hand began bleeding, and my mother rushed to the rescue only to find she had lacerated her little finger all the way to the bone. Despite many trips to many specialists through the years, that little finger would never function normally again. When she closed her had it remained largely straight and stiff, because the nerve had been cut, as it does so to this day now some 65 years later. A minor tragedy which could have been prevented had someone been less careless, if someone had been watching, if only somehow precautions had been taken that weren't on that fateful afternoon 65 years ago.
The next memory--they came chronologically--was when I was about 10 years old and there was a terrible accident about three houses up on our street in our neighborhood. We live at the end of a long residential street, and across the way was a neighbor who owned a 1961 Black Lincoln Continental, one of those old heavy muscle cars of the 1960s, who drove it like a race car. Every afternoon he would come speeding by our house at about 35-40 miles an hour in a neighborhood full of kids riding their bikes and trikes. And we all thought to ourselves that this was likely an accident waiting to happen. And finally, that tragic day did come. It happened when a three-year-old little boy up the street on his tricycle happened to venture out into the street as the careless driver of the Continental. And there was a collision. I don't need to tell you whether the Lincoln or the tricycle won. I happened to be outside when it happened, ran down the street to see a hysterical mother frantically run out into the street, grab her little boy off the bike and convulse his little body like a rag doll in her panic before cooler heads prevailed. Miraculously, the baby boy survived. It was a preventable tragedy. If only somebody had said something, if only someone had called the man on his reckless driving, his speed. If only the mother had been out there with her son that afternoon, if only.
And on a national and international scale, we've all been exposed to preventable tragedies. Take 9/11 for instance. The CIA and the FBI had all been warning of terrorist plots to fly passenger planes into skyscrapers for a few years before it actually happened. I'm sure one could argue whether it was absolutely preventable or not at the time. It only took the loss of 3,000 lives, but we sure do everything we possibly can today to prevent a repeat of 9/11--what with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA--the Transportation Security Administration requiring that every one of us and our luggage be X-rayed, patted-down, examined for any possible signs of a bomb, or a knife, or a gun, or box-cutter, or whatever a would-be terrorist might use to commandeer a plane for ignoble purposes.
The point is that when it comes to tragedies, we do well to do whatever we can to prevent them from happening. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as the old saying goes.
And just as there are physical tragedies that are worth preventing, there are spiritual tragedies that are worth preventing, spiritual tragedies of eternal consequence that are, if anything, even more serious than the physical tragedies I've spoken of. And that is that is the major purpose of Paul’s second letter to the Church Corinth, especially in chapter 11—to prevent a spiritual tragedy, the deception and eternal destruction of the Corinthian church. .
We took a break from our series on II Corinthians entitled "From a Shepherd's Heart" about two months ago. We were in chapter 11, where the Apostle Paul, the writer of this inspired letter had just gotten to the crux of his concern for the Corinthians. Paul was a Christ-like shepherd of the sheep in Corinth, who took his cues from the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. Jesus had warned his hearers some 30 years earlier back along the shores of the Sea of Galilee in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, they come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You shall know them by their fruits."
And so, as Jesus Christ had warned his hearing of impending spiritual tragedy and disaster, so the Apostle Paul does in II Corinthians 11. The Great Apostle to the Gentiles had risked life and limb to start a Christian Church in Corinth Greece around 51 or 52 A.D. With God's help, he had been enormously successful during the 18 months he stayed in this very pagan city. But now about five years later this fledgling church of relatively new believers had been infiltrated by false teachers, who styled themselves as super-apostles, attempted to discredit the Apostle Paul, and replace him in the affections and devotion of the Corinthians. The challenge to the Apostle Paul's authority and ministry was so serious that it prompted a long letter from the Apostle Paul, to warn the Corinthians & expose the “false apostles” among them.
The challenge the Apostle Paul faced is a challenge many of us will face if we follow Christ for very long. What should we do when friends or family become entangled with false teachers, false prophets and false teaching? Do you shrug your shoulders and say, To each his own. Live and let live. Do you just let people find their own way when false teachers are involved?
And Paul's example in II Corinthians 11 tells us that his answer would be an emphatic no. Rather, his approach was to do anything and everything you can do to prevent a spiritual disaster--call out the false prophets, expose their false teachings, discredit their self-serving manipulations, and lead your friends to follow the true Jesus and his self-sacrificing servants.
Does it strike you as a bit odd how strident and critical the Apostle Paul's words are in II Corinthians 11:13-15. All is not sweetness and light in this inspired letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. He calls out a segment of the Corinthians church, people who claim to be believers in the midst of other believers and calls them "False apostles, deceitful workers, who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ." Wow, we might think this is not very gently, this is not very humble, this is not very Christ-like" until we remember how Christ Himself confronted the religious leaders of his day, as hypocrites, white-washed walls and men who would experience the sure judgment of God.
In verses 13-15, the Apostle Paul's example tells us to call out false teachers and expose their false teachings, because their eternal destiny may depend on it.
Let's read it again. Verse 13: "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostle of Christ. 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.
Our first question upon reading this passage should be: Who are these men? What are they doing and saying to deserve such a horrific description from the Apostle Paul? In the context of the whole letter, these men are the critics of the apostle Paul who are pseudo-Christians seeking the devotion of the Corinthians to their ministry and their teachings rather than those of the Apostle Paul. But most importantly and more specifically, their actions and character are described in verse 4: "For if one comes 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."
Paul is here defining what characterizes a false apostle, or a false prophet or a false teacher. He teaches another and false concept of who Jesus Christ is; he preaches a false Gospel or a false means of getting to heaven. And He is empowered and ultimately inspired by a different spirit, something other than the Holy Spirit, in his work. It becomes clear he is saying that his teachings and his actions are inspired ultimately by a demonic spirit. He is ultimately a deceitful worker, a servant of Satan, who end will be eternal destruction, or hell.
So to be specific, Paul is indicating that these false apostles in Corinth were preaching a concept of Jesus which was substantially different from the Biblical Jesus, a Jesus who was not fully God and fully man, a Jesus who was not the only Savior of mankind, who was not the Son of God as He Himself claimed to be. Likewise, with regard to the Gospel, or the Good News of Jesus Christ, which according to I Corinthians 15:1-4 is that Christ died for our sins and rose again, and that through repentant faith we can be assured of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. In other words, they taught that the way to heaven was not through Christ alone, and through His death on the cross for our sins and resurrection, but rather through some work we might do, or some devotion to some other creed than by Jesus alone, by faith alone, through grace alone,
What He is saying here is that these false teachers, although they followed the name of Christ, gutted Christ of His character, his truth and His saving power. They denied the essential and non-negotiable teachings and truths that are necessary for eternal life. And, thus, they lead people astray.
And he is none too polite about describing the source of their teachings. In verses 14-15 he clearly describes them not as servants of God, but servants of Satan, who disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. And He also clearly describes their eternal destiny--"their end will be according to their deeds" --a not too veiled description of hell.
So, you have a friend or loved one who comes home with a New Age Gospel of Jesus Christ. Or who is having regular Bible studies with Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons who deny Christ's deity and claim that works or rituals are part of the equation for getting to heaven. What are you going to do? Are you going to avoid the subject to keep the peace? Are you to say, "More power to you, whatever you believe, as long as you are sincere, is all that matters. Or are you going to take the attitude "Live and let live. To each his own." Or are you going to follow in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, and even Jesus Christ, and warn your loved ones that they're playing with fire, spiritually speaking. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Will you do whatever you can to prevent an eternal spiritual disaster? Will you call a spade, a spade, identify their false teachings and the source of their false teaching in accord with Biblical truth and Paul's example.
Paul now finds himself in an extremely awkward position. These false teachers have not been friendly to Him. They have accused him of all kinds of wrong motives, attacked his character, and his message, and have attempted to replace him as the spiritual leader at Corinth. How should Paul respond? He is opposed to the idea of boasting about himself. He is mindful of Christ's example and His words found in Matthew 23:12: " Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." He recognizes that boasting, or comparisons with others at the expense of others are often rooted in pride and selfish ambition--the very sin nature which he has repudiated. But all of their accusations call for an answer, not for Paul's sake, but for their sake, so that they continue to follow the true Jesus and the true Gospel, rather than falling away because of the deceptions of these false apostles.
And so motivated by love for the Corinthians rather than pride for himself, he engages in actions which would otherwise be anathema to him--boasting about the nature of his own self-sacrificing ministry in comparison to the abusive, self-centered of his critics.
What I gather from verses 16-30, is that we are to do anything and everything this side of sin, to prevent people from following false teachers.
First, Paul takes note of the ways these false apostles had been self-serving, how they had abused and exploited the Corinthians.
Guided by a motive of love rather than of pride, Paul says in verses 16-20, "Again, let no one think me foolish, but if you do, receive me even as foolish so that I also may boast a little. What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also. For you being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, if anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face. To my shame, I must say that we have been weak by comparison."
In verse 20, he notes how the false apostles had abused the Corinthians. They had enslaved them to their own service, by their teachings. They had devoured their money and their goods, they had taken advantage of them in every way, they had exalted themselves in their midst and they had even possibly abused them physically, rebuking them not only in word but in deed.
Now it should be noted, the Bible portrays this as almost always being true of false prophets. They have a motive for being different, for teaching differently, and it's for their own egotistical and economic gain. So rather than being servants to those they minister to, they exploit them for their own benefit.
Then Paul works to discredit their credentials. These false apostles had claimed some special spiritual heritage that qualified them above the Apostle Paul or anyone else to speak with authority. Apparently, it was a Jewish, or Hebrew heritage. Because they were Jewish, and spoke and understood Hebrew, they claimed some elite status as teachers of God's Word.
But with respect to their spiritual heritage, Paul notes that they had nothing on Him. Verses 21-22: You want spiritual credentials, a great spiritual heritage, I've got them, too. "Are they Hebrews? So am I? Are they Israelites? So am I? Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I."
And so, I would say beware of bogus credentials. Th.Ds. and Ph. D's certainly aren't everything, and they can be deceiving. What matters is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith--a devotion to the truth of God's Word so that one speaks the truth in love.
And then Paul boasts of his self-sacrifice service and suffering for Christ.
A final point here: Don't simply steer people clear of false teachers and false teaching. But point people toward following the true Jesus, and self-sacrificing servants of Jesus. It just so happened in this case, that the self-sacrificing servant that Paul necessarily needed to point the Corinthians to was none other than Himself.
And as we have read here, no Christian in history has had a resume like that of the Apostle Paul. It's interesting to note that he doesn't talk about how many churches he had started, and there were many, or how he had been taught by the Jewish sage Gamaliel. It's not his degrees or accomplishments that count, in this contest, but his willingness to serve in spite of great suffering.
We don't have time to read the whole list again, but it is indeed an impressive list of things Paul suffered for the sake of Christ. Now it's important to note that this is an apostle, a personal eyewitness of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, who as a result of his encounter with Jesus not only turned his life completely around from being the chief persecutor of Christians and the church of Jesus Christ, but he also became the greatest proponent of Christ in history. And he did so for decades in spite of the most impressive list of sufferings and persecutions anyone might imagine.
"Are they servants of Christ? Verse 23. "I speak as if insane” --he's still embarrassed about what this awkward situation had driven him to--boasting about how he had suffered for Jesus.
"I more so, in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death." The Greek literally reads "in many deaths." In other words, there were so many situations in which he should have ended up dead but somehow survived."
Verse 24: "Five times I received from the Jews (his own people) 39 lashes. Thirty-nine lashes were one less than the maximum allowed by the Mosaic Law, an attempt to ensure that a convicted man did not die from the scourging. Three times beaten with rods--this was the Roman means of punishment. Once I was stoned, surely a reference to the remarkable occasion in Acts 14, when in Lystra Paul was stoned, apparently to death, drug out of the city as a dead man, then proceeded to get up and go to the next city, Derbe, the next day, and preached the Gospel there again. Three times I was shipwrecked; I spent a day and a night in the deep. Now all of these multiple beatings and imprisonment and dangers had taken place only part of the way through Paul's ministry. It's nearly 10 years before his martyrdom, and numerous other imprisonments and deprivations that he would experience between when he wrote this, about the time of Acts 20. What Paul is saying to the Corinthians in their choice of spiritual leaders is consider this: Consider whether a man is self-serving in his ministry, exploiting others for his own benefit, or whether he is a self-sacrificing servant of Christ, suffering for the truth and for the Gospel even as Jesus Himself did. And then Paul seals his testimony by his comment in verse 31: He not only suffers for Christ and for those He reaches with the Gospel, but He tells the truth--something that cannot be said of the false apostles who seek to defrock and replace Him. They are deceitful workmen, but Paul says in verse 31, "The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
And He concludes His story with an experience that perhaps epitomizes his whole ministry, how he had to scramble at times just to stay alive to preach the Gospel of Christ. While in Damascus, the very place he had once gone to persecute Christians, even from there he had only escaped the death sentence of those who now persecuted him, of all people for being a proponent of Jesus Christ.et.
So, you find that a friend is entertaining false teachers regularly for a Bible study in their home. a Bible study leader is recommending a Ouija board as a manner of determining God's will, another friend has gone to a big church that claims to be the source of salvation through its rituals and its rites, what do you do?
Do you throw up your hands and shrug of the shoulders and say, "Leve and let live. To each his own.” And go your own way. Or do you excuse yourself with “Well, it’s his life.” or “they should know better?”
Or do you do what Jesus did, and what the Apostles did?
Do you do everything you can do this side of sin to prevent a spiritual disaster?
Yes, you call out and expose false teachers and their self-serving practices. You point them toward the true Jesus and the true Gospel and self-sacrificing servants of Christ. You do everything to save them from the hell they might experience for abandoning the true Gospel and the true Jesus for a lie.
Let's pray.
