Let us turn again to the second
epistle to the Corinthians, but turn into chapter 11. We were
reading in chapters 2 and 4, but turning to the opening words
now that we have here in chapter 11. I'll read the first three verses. Good
to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed
bear with me for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy
for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you
as a chaste virgin to Christ but I fear lest by any means
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety so your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ and Thinking of that statement
at the end of verse 3, where he speaks of the simplicity that
is in Christ, he's concerned that their minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. That is the simplicity
of the Gospel. The simplicity of the Gospel,
that's really what I want us to consider, with the Lord's
help, just for a little while before we turn again to prayer. we have been considering of course
those words that we have previously in chapter 6 where Paul really
says something about his experience and the paradox of that experience
there in verses 9 and 10 as unknown and yet well known as dying and
behold we live and so forth we've been considering those words
the last couple of of Lord's days and there's a reason why
Paul writes in that particular fashion he's having time and
again in this epistle and also in some measure in the first
letter to the Corinthians to defend himself and his ministry
and so we have these portions in chapter 4 and chapter 6 and
again later here in chapter 11 where He describes something
of the bitter experiences that he passes through in seeking
to engage in that calling as the apostle, the apostle to the
Gentiles. And we've been trying to draw
out some principles from those experiences as he speaks of them
there in that sixth chapter, those principles that we can
apply to the lives of all those who are the true followers of
the Lord Jesus. But remember, Paul is here speaking
in very personal terms with regards to himself because of those who
would come in amongst the Corinthians as false teachers if we'd have continued reading
here in the fourth verse of this eleventh chapter. He says, for
if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached,
or if ye receive another spirit which ye have not received, or
another gospel which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear
with him, or thou give these false teachers a fair hearing. Again, he goes on to say further
at verse 13. He's quite plain. They are false
apostles, he says, deceitful workers, transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. All the subtlety of
that great adversary. As he says at the beginning of
this third verse, I fear less by any means as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. Now, there in Genesis
chapter 3 of course we have that record how the serpent was more
subtle than any beast of the field and he comes and what does
he do in those opening verses of that third chapter? He comes
and tempts the woman. He challenges the word of God. Yea, hath God said. He questions
God's word and then he denies what God had said. Ye shall not
surely die. God had said if you are disobedient
and partake of the forbidden fruit, ye shall surely die. How subtle he is as he comes
and begins to tempt the woman. And so Paul is concerned for
the believers there in that church, because they are too ready to
receive false teachers amongst them. And he is very much obliged,
therefore, to say something concerning himself. Here in the opening
words of the chapter, "...would to God ye could bear with me
a little in my following, and indeed bear with me he doesn't
want to be speaking in this manner he doesn't want to be drawing
attention to himself his great concern of course is to preach
Christ as he says in the opening chapter of the first letter his
determination was to know nothing amongst them save Jesus Christ
and him crucified and yet he must He must defend
himself, he must defend his own ministry. In the third chapter,
he reminds them, do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or
need we of some others epistles of commendation to you or letters
of commendation from you? Ye are our epistle, written in
our hearts, known and read of all men. for as much as you are
manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered
by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living
God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."
Oh, they were the fruit of his ministry. He had been so instrumental
unto God. God had assured him back in the
Acts that there was much people in that city of Corinth and so
he must preach amongst them, and the church was established.
Again, writing in the first letter, you can say you have 10,000 instructors
in Christ, but you have not many fathers, for I have begotten
you in Christ Jesus through the gospel. He's concerned then. He'll expose these people. They might make great claims,
but what are they? Again, he says here at verse
22, are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites?
So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham?
So are they. So am I. Are they ministers of
Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more. And so he goes on. Always great
concern, you see, is that they are very much false teachers. Isn't that what he is saying
in those portions that we read? He is going to speak the truth,
so different to these men. Therefore, seeing we have this
ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not, he says,
but we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking
in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but
by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. and the end of that second
chapter we read those words in verse 17 we are not as many which
corrupt the word of God but as of sincerity but as of God in
the sight of God speak we in Christ so time and time and time
again we find him speaking in this in this fashion with regards
to his own ministry and what is his concern that they are
departing from that simplicity that is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
or his fear that they be beguiled by false teaching. His great
concern, he wants to present them as a chaste virgin to Christ,
he says, but I fear, lest by any means as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. And as I say, this simplicity
is the simplicity of the Gospel. It's the purity of the Gospel
that's at stake. And that Gospel that he is preaching,
of course, was one that he had not received of men. Remember,
writing to the Galatians, he makes it quite plain that he
had received his calling from the Lord Jesus Christ and from
God himself. And he speaks against those who
would preach another gospel. He says there in Galatians 1.6,
I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is
not another. But there be some that trouble
you and would pervert the gospel of Christ, that though we or
an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." So what
is this gospel of which he is so concerned, the purity of this
gospel? Well, he expresses it really
in these few words. at the end of this third verse,
the simplicity that is in Christ. It's a vast subject but I just
want tonight to mention two aspects of that gospel and the purity
of it. To consider the simplicity of
the way of salvation and then secondly to say something with
regards to the simplicity of gospel worship. First of all
the very basic truth really the simplicity of the way of salvation
and these are elementary truths I'm sure we all recognize this
fact that Christ of course is the only way of salvation there
is no other way of salvation we might live in a society that
is now said to be multi-faith and the powers that be might
want to recognize every religion on the face of the earth but
there is only one way of salvation. Christ says, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Now that is true objectively. It is true objectively. Salvation
centers in a person, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. and
in that great work that he accomplished here upon the earth in the fullness
of God's time. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven given
amongst men whereby we must be saved." And remember what was
said of the angel even after the conception of Jesus. conceived by the Holy Ghost in
the womb of the Virgin Mary and the angel comes to Joseph who's
betrothed to her and assures him that she's with child of
the Holy Ghost and she's to have this son and they shall call
his name Jesus says the angel they shall call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins we know how significant
the names that the Hebrews give to their children was in the
Old Testament. And so here, this child is to
be called Jesus, which literally means Savior. The Hebrew, Joshua. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. And what a statement
it is. Salvation is not merely a possibility,
But salvation is a certainty. The Lord Jesus Christ has come
to do a great work, and what is that work? Well, He's not
just going to make all men salvable. He's not simply making it possible
for everyone to be saved. He has actually come to save
a certain and a particular people. the doctrine of particular redemption
with particular batteries because we believe that in the eternal
purpose of God there was a people predestinated to eternal life
and that life in the Lord Jesus and he has come to accomplish
salvation to finish the transgression to make an end of sin to make
reconciliation for iniquity to bring in everlasting righteousness,
that tremendous statement that we have back in Daniel 9.24. It's a finished work. He's accomplished
something. And we know how he prays to the
Father there in John 17. I have glorified thee on the
earth, he says. That's the great thing that he
has done. It's all to the glory of God, first and foremost. the
work of salvation, the great work of redemption, I have glorified
thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do." And then subsequently upon the cross he utters that
word of triumph, it is finished. Bows the head and yields up the
ghost. Oh, he has accomplished salvation. He is the Savior. This man after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on
the right hand of God we are told in Hebrews 10-12 and the
very fact of course that he is sat down that God's right hand
indicates the work he's done and we are to look to him look
unto me he says and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for
I am God and there is none else We have to look to Him for everything.
We have to look to Him for faith. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and He sat down. We have it there, sat down at
the right hand of God. This is the one we have to look
to, and this really brings us to that other aspect with regard
to the simplicity of the way of salvation. Objectively, it
is in Christ, in his person, and in his work, and then subjectively. How that salvation must be applied.
There must be an application to the souls of those who are
to be saved. They must experience the grace
of God. That rain of grace must come
into their hearts. Christ says, Behold, the kingdom
of God is within you. All that faith, that saving faith,
is the gift of God, of course. By grace are you saved, through
faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. There's no place for any works. It's simply a matter. Here's
the simplicity of the Gospel. It's simply a matter of looking
to Christ and trusting in Christ and resting in Him, resting upon
that work that He accomplished here upon the earth. And what
is his faith? Paul speaks of it in Colossians
2.12 as faith of the operation of God. Faith of the operation
of God. This is the work of God that
ye believe on him whom he hath sent. It's God's work. The work of faith with power. says Paul to the Thessalonians,
Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, the exceeding greatness
of his power to usward who believe. It has to be experiencing in
the soul of the sinner when God begins to deal with that man
There is, of course, a great work of regeneration. There's
a new birth. He's born again. He's born from above. He's born
of the Spirit of God. And as a result of that, there's
that sense of his need as a sinner. He's brought under conviction
of sin. He's brought really to the end
of himself. He's shot into what he is. as
a child of Adam and Eve, dead in trespasses and in sins. He feels his deadness. Strange paradox really. There's
life, spiritual life, and what he's felt is all that deadness
of sin that is in his soul as a natural child of Adam. And so, as there is regeneration,
there is a work of conversion taking place. Christ says verily
except ye be converted and become as little children ye cannot
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Or we have to be born again.
Now this is not in any sense easy believism when we speak
of the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus, the simplicity
of the gospel. There's a difference between
easy believism. There are those imagine it is
easy to believe when a man is under conviction of sin it's
hard to believe dear John Newton knew that oh could I but believe
he says then all would easy be I would but cannot lord relieve
my help must come from thee there is a difference here between
what we're trying to explain the simplicity of that way of
salvation is not to be confused with the easy believism that
is so prevalent in some circles and where there is that simplicity
so there is that living by the grace of God look at how Paul
speaks in the opening chapter there at verse 12 he says how
rejoicing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity
and Godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace
of God. We've had our conversation in
the world, and more abundantly to you all. All the simplicity,
the Godly sincerity of that life of faith, walking by faith and
not by science. But what is Paul saying to these
Corinthians? He fears for them. lest they
be guiled, lest their minds are corrupted, because they're heeding
the teachings of these false apostles, these false teachers.
And Paul has to expose all of this, and he does so by speaking
very much of himself and his own ministry. The simplicity
then of the way of salvation, but to say something in the second
place, with regards to the simplicity of gospel worship. We think of the words of the
Lord Jesus to that woman, the Samaritan woman, remember in
John chapter 4, where he tells the woman quite
plainly, the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit,
and the true worshippers worship Him in spirit and in truth. And those two aspects are so
vital to the simplicity of gospel worship. First of all, we recognize
that God is a spirit. God is a spirit, and that's quite
clear when we consider how God gave the Lord to the children
of Israel. Remember, we have the account
there in Exodus 19, when they come to Mount Sinai, and then
the giving of the Ten Commandments, God speaks the words, the Ten
Words from Mount Sinai, and then when we come to Deuteronomy,
we have the recounting of all that had happened. This is 40
years later, now they're on the borders of the Promised Land,
there's a whole generation, the unbelieving generation, has passed
away and they're about to enter into the possession of that that
God had promised them all those many years ago and there's a
recounting of the commandments and how Moses reminds them there
in chapter 4 of Deuteronomy verse 12 he says the Lord spake unto
you out of the midst of the fire ye heard the voice of the words
but saw no similitude only heard a voice. God is a spirit. They
saw no similitude. And then he goes on, verse 15,
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves for ye saw no manner
of similitude on that day that the Lord spoke unto you in Horeb.
out of the midst of the fire, lest ye corrupt yourselves, and
make a graven image and the similitude of any figure, the likeness of
male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth,
the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in the air, the likeness
of anything that creepeth on the ground, and so on. They are
not to make anything, because God is a Spirit. And of course, that's made quite
plain in the second commandment. And as I said, we have a recounting
of the commandments in chapter 5. And there we have the second
commandment at verse 10, They shall not make thee any graven
image. or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that
is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the
earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve
them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing
mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments,
the second commandment then. They're not to make any image.
Nothing can represent God to them because God is a Spirit. No man has seen God at any time,
we're told. The only begotten Son who is
in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. All the revelation
is leading up to the New Testament and the coming of the Lord Jesus,
God manifest in the flesh, the great mystery of godliness. He is the image of the invisible
God. And it's not that we see God,
of course. We see the man Christ Jesus. But here is the wonder, this
is the God map. But God is a Spirit. And the true worshippers worship
God in spirit. There is one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. It is only in and
through him that we can worship. It was so in the Old Testament.
They worshipped through Christ, but they saw Christ there in
types and figures and shadows. But now we have the substance
of these things. But as God is a spirit, so God
is sovereign. And God's truth, therefore, is
that that is to govern our worship. Remember, back in the Old Testament,
again, with regards to Moses, as he's given instruction concerning
the manner of worship, all the tabernacle and its furnishings,
when he's there in the mount forty days and forty nights,
and time and again, Moses was admonished, it says, admonished
of God when he was about to make the tabernacle for sea, saith
he, that they make all things according to the pattern shown
unto thee in the mouth. God is the one who is in control
of that worship. It's to be according to the pattern
that was shown in the mount. Now, that Old Testament worship
was physical worship, It was typical worship in its
form. Again, the importance of the
epistles of the Hebrews to understand, to interpret what we have there
in the Old Testament. Hebrews 9.1, verily the first
covenant, it says, had a worldly sanctuary. That Old Testament
covenant had a worldly sanctuary. There was a tabernacle, then
there was a temple. And the tabernacle, the temple, they're all types
of the Lord Jesus Christ, but there's a certain physical aspect
to the worship. I like the comment of Calvin.
He says, the worship of the law was spiritually in substance,
but carnal and earthly in form. All worship is spiritual because
God is a spirit. But in the Old Testament, the
reformer is saying their worship was carnal and earthly. There was ritual, there was ceremony,
there was a great deal that had a tremendous appeal to the senses. It was sensual worship in that
sense. And so, there would be much in the way of dress and
with regards to the priests, there would be much in the way
of musical instruments, there would be dancing of course, there
were sacrifices, there were all sorts of remarkable things. And
all these things associated with the worship of God. And so, when
we come to the end of the Psalms, and there's those exhortations
to worship the language in the last two Psalms, Psalm 149, verse
3, well it says doesn't it, the Psalm begins, Praise ye the Lord,
sing unto the Lord a new song. He's praising the congregation
of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that
made him. Let the children of Zion be joyful
in their king. Let them praise his name in the
dark. Let them sing praises unto Him
with the timbrel and harp. And again in the last psalm,
praise Him with the sound of the trumpet, praise Him with
the psaltery and harp, praise Him with the timbrel and dance,
praise Him with stringed instruments and organs, praise Him upon the
loud cymbals, praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals. Now,
some might appeal to these sorts of psalms and say, why can't
we do this today? Well, in the Old Testament, as
I said, it was external, this worship. It was sensual. There
were also sacrifices. It's all of a piece. If you're
going to have these aspects of the worship, you must feel free
to have every aspect that we have there in the Old Testament. We know that Christ has come
and there's no more any sacrifice to be offered. There's a simplicity. a simplicity that is in the Lord
Jesus Christ and it's interesting because with regards to the dancing
you think of that occasion when eventually they bring in the
Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem and we read there in 2 Samuel
6 of David dancing before the Lord. The Ark, of course, is
associated very much with the presence of God. The Ark with
the Mercy Seat as its covering put in the Holy of Holies and
there the Shekinah Glory, the presence of God in the midst
of Israel. There they are, they're bringing up the Ark and David
is dancing and rejoicing and Micah is Michael, his wife, how
she despises him when she sees him behaving in this fashion.
But it's interesting what he's actually said, the detail. Because
we read there in 2 Samuel 6.14, David doth before the Lord in
a linen girdle. In a linen girdle. That was the
priestly garb. This is the priestly activity,
you see. As I said, That worship, of course, very much centers
in the book of Leviticus and the work of the priest of Aaron. That was Old Testament worship.
All those instruments of music, all that dancing, all that ceremony,
all the pomp, all the ritual. But that is now gone, and we
are to worship God in accordance with what we read in the New
Testament Scriptures. The externals are passed away.
Their worship may have been spiritual. All worship is spiritual, as
we said, but there was that carnal, that fleshy aspect to it. But
our worship now is to be spiritual, in every sense. The simplicity
that is in Christ. What does Paul say here? I fear,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguile thee through his subtlety,
so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. He calls those external elements
elements of the world and weak and beggarly elements. Look at the language that we
have in Galatians there in Galatians 4.3 it says
even so when we were children we're in bondage under the elements
of the world he's referring of course to the Lord is referring
to aspects of Old Testament worship and again at verse 9 of that fourth chapter He says
to these Galatians, but now after that ye have known God, or rather
are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggary
elements? Whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe
days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you,
lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. And then also to the Colossians. In Colossians 2 Verse 8, he says,
Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and
not after Christ. The traditions of men, the rudiments
of the world. Again he says there to those
Colossians, which things indeed have a show of wisdom in will-worship. will worship when men do what
they will and not what God has willed as we have it here in
his work. This spiritual worship then is
part and parcel of the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus and it's
very solemn. It's very solemn and Paul certainly
makes that clear when he draws the contrast between the Old
Testament and the New Testament in terms of Mount Sinai and Mount
Zion in the 12th of Hebrews. Verse 18, he says, You are not
come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burnt with
fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest, and the
sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, and so forth. But,
he says, ye are come unto man's iron, unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of
angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn which
are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to
the Spirit of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh
better things than that of Abel, And here is the solemnity of
it all. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they
escape not, you refused him that spake on earth, much more shall
not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. Oh, our worship then is to be
according to God's truth. God is sovereign. As well as
God being a spirit, God is God. God is the one who has stated
the manner in which we are to worship Him. The simplicity that
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The way of salvation, it is simple. I think sometimes we might, in
the multitude of our words, confuse things. How simple is the way
of salvation? we have to know that we are sinners
and Christ is that one who receives sinners he came not to call the
righteous but sinners to repentance and we are to worship him in
spirit and in truth oh God grant then that we might delight in
these things that our minds be not corrupted from the simplicity
that is in our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless His word to
us. Let us, before we pray again,
worship God as we sing the hymn 152. The tune is Southport 69. I am, says Christ,
the way, and if we credit Him, all other paths must lead astray. How fair, so e'er they seem. 152 June 69.