All right, the lesson this morning
will be in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Last week we talked about
how the true servant of God is manifest to men. How do we know
who is the true servant of God and who is the pretender? They
all say that God sent them, that they're been commissioned by
God to go and preach these things and pastor churches and so on
and watch for the good of our souls? How do we know that? How
do we know that? And Paul lays this basic principle
down. The man's sin of God preaches
the simplicity or singleness of Christ, that is, Christ alone. Christ alone. Christ the one
mediator. The Bible said there's one mediator
between God and me and the man, Christ Jesus. We don't preach that there's
a church-appointed man who is a mediator or that the mother
of Christ is a mediator. We preach there's one mediator
between God and me and the man, Christ Jesus. We preach Christ,
the head of the church. He is the federal head, the representative. He's the head of the body, the
church. He's the firstborn from the dead. Christ is the propitiation,
the only propitiation for our sins. Christ is our righteousness. Christ is our high priest. Christ
is our prophet. And Christ is our wisdom, our
righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. The man whom
God sends preaches the simplicity of Christ. All you have to do
is listen to him. How does he say God saves sinners? How does he preach that? That
will determine whether or not God has sent him. Everything
God has for sinners is in Christ. The Scripture said, He that hath
the Son. And in this passage there in
1 John chapter 5 where it says this, He's talking about that
testimony. He's talking about the record
that God has given concerning His Son. And He said, He that
hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. The man who preaches Christ plus
man. or Christ plus morality, or Christ
plus the law, or Christ plus anything, is not the messenger
of God, because he doesn't preach the simplicity of Christ. He's
not the true servant of God, and his message will never be
accompanied by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
All right, now let's see what Paul tells this church about
Satan's ambassadors. He tells us first how to recognize
the true ambassador of Christ. Now let's see what he tells us
about Satan's ambassadors and the outcome of their ministry.
2 Corinthians 11, verse 4. For if he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus, whom we have not preached, Or if you receive another
spirit which you have not received, or another gospel which you have
not accepted, you might well bear with him. Now, some of the commentators
emphasize in this verse the word if. If. If someone does. If someone should come and preach
a better gospel. Preach a more sufficient Christ. Preach a more powerful spirit
than the Holy Spirit. You might well bear with him.
And I don't have a problem with that interpretation of that scripture.
But let me read this same verse to you in a different version
of the Bible. Listen to how this reads in the
New International Version. If someone comes to you and preaches
a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive
a different spirit from the one from whom you received, or a
different gospel from one that you accepted, you put up with
it easily enough. And I believe that's what Paul
is saying here in this verse. You're quick to receive these
men who give no evidence of being apostles of Christ. You're quick
to do that. And pretty much all the versions
that I check read this way. Verse 5, for I suppose I was
not one whit behind the very cheapest of apostles. Everything
required by an apostle had been given to Paul. He was taught
by Christ Himself, by Christ Himself. He was approved of God
by miracles and wonders and signs and gifts of the Holy Ghost according
to the will of God. He had a complete and full revelation
of Jesus Christ and knew His message inside out. His work
was followed with much fruit. God was pleased through Paul
to raise up churches all over Asia. and all over the Mediterranean. He may have looked a little crude.
He confessed that. He may have been a little unrefined
in his speech, but he was an apostle, and he brought before
this church the one true gospel of God's saving grace. But these
other men had no such confirmations of God. They have no confirmations
of God, no evidence concerning their station. But these men were now trying
to say that Paul wasn't the servant
of God and deny all the evidences that
God had accompanied him with. and trying to step into his place
and take charge of those churches without any confirmation of God
whatsoever except their word. And Paul, I think, was a little
shocked at their readiness to receive these things. Verse 6, though I be rude in
speech, yet not in knowledge. But we've been throughly made
manifest among you in all things." All those things I just went
over with you. He said, we've been throughly
manifest before your eyes. It's not wisdom of words or polished
speech that commends us, but the gospel we preach. And God's
spirit that makes it effectual in the hearts of chosen sinners.
Verse 6. Have I committed an offense in
abasing myself that you might be exalted because I preached
to you the gospel of God freely? How did Paul or how could Paul
be said that he abased himself before the Corinthians? What's
he talking about here? Well, it could have been in his
common manner and behavior. When he preached to these men,
he didn't deck himself out in the robes of the Pharisees and
with broad phylacteries and all these things that would immediately
identify him with the Jewish religion. That's not how he stood
before them. He shed that Pharisaical dress
years before this. He laid it down when he saw the
truth. And he didn't come before them
with all these craftiness and all this stuff that these other
men did. He just came before, he said,
I was with you in weakness and I was with you in fear, he tells
them over in 2 Corinthians chapter 2. And he said, I didn't come
with wisdom of words. I didn't come trying to impress
you. just his common manner, or maybe
because he made an effort to show them that he was one of
them. He was one of them. He had fears. Do you have doubts? I have doubts. That's what Paul, that's how
he was among them. They talked about that. You've
got fears, I've got fears. He didn't try to set himself
up on a pedestal and say, well, you experienced these things,
and I feel sorry for you, but I don't you know, I'm on a different
plane. No, that's not how he talked
to them. He was with them in fear and
with them in trembling, without haughtiness, without show of
authority and power. It might have been because he
worked for a living. He worked for a living. He made
tents, sold tents. And these things were so far
from being criminal that he said, I ought to be commended for these
things. You're bringing these things toward me like it was
a charge against me. He said, I ought to be commended
for these things. This is what the Scriptures teach. Verse 8, I robbed other churches,
taking wages of them to do you service. What's he talking about there?
He's talking about he didn't take one red nickel from him
because he didn't want the Corinthians to think that he was some money-grubbing
preacher. That's exactly right. And he
wouldn't take it. Wouldn't take it. You know, we support missionaries
and evangelists in foreign lands. And so Paul received gifts from
established churches so that the gospel would have no hindrance
to those that it's being preached to. It would almost be ridiculous. I've been down to Yucatan, Mexico,
and I've been out in the jungles with Walter, and I've met the
people out there. And you have no concept of what
poverty really is until you go out there. I remarked to him,
I said, I expected Mexico to be a dirty place. And there was nothing out there.
And he said, it's not that way because they're such clean people.
He said it's that way because they can't afford to throw anything
away. They use everything. They live
in thatched huts. Can you imagine? That much space
between the little vines and things that puts this hut together. And they have to sleep in there
during hurricanes. and storms. You've got no imagination
of what poverty is until you go out among those people. And
how would it have been? How would they have thought of
this man? He's driving up there in this big old suburban. That
might as well be a Rolls Royce to them. They don't know anything
about an automobile. And here he is in this big old
suburban, and he's preaching to them. And he stands up, and
he said, now, you all have to give me 10%. to these men in utter poverty.
No, we support him so that in these mission fields and among
these poverty stricken people, they're not going to think bad
of him. It gives the gospel free course
to them. Verse 9, and when I was present
with you and wanted I was chargeable to no man for that which was
lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied. And in all things I've kept myself
from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. Verse
10, as the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of
this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Now Paul's not talking
about bragging about himself. or bragging about his sacrifice
in the ministry, but talking about keeping false teachers
and false apostles from accusing him of being a money-grubbing
preacher. That's what he's talking about
here. Verse 11, wherefore? Why would I say such a thing?
Why? Because I love you not? He said, God knows. God knows. Paul didn't work and rob others
of support. And he wasn't now telling these
things to shame them or because he had no affection for them,
but to keep his enemies from accusing him of being a minister
for filthy lucre. And he did these things because
he loved these people and he had a desire not to let anything
become a hindrance. so that his gospel, what he preached,
what God had sent him to do, would have free course unto them. Verse 12. But what I do, that
I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire
occasion, that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. Now again, let me read this verse
to you out of the NIV. I'll keep on doing what I'm doing
in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity
to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about.
They're boasting about being an apostle, but they're not living
the life of an apostle. They're boasting of being an
apostle, but they show no love for the people, no sacrifice
for the people, no interest, not sold out to the gospel they
claim to preach. To stoop maybe to a more vulgar
way of speech, he's saying to these preachers, put up or shut
up. That's what he's telling them. If you don't walk the walk, don't
talk the talk. That's what he's saying. Now
watch this, verse 13. For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. He say they are all pretense. Pretense. No work of God in them
or by them. They say one thing and do another. They teach one thing and practice
another. They require one thing from you
and another from themselves. And here, he said, they transform
themselves. This is a self-transformation. It's not that transformation
of God, but this is a self-transformation, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. Well, how is this self-transformation
accomplished? First, through vain imaginations,
vain imaginations. My friend at Idolatry begins
in the mind. The word image comes from imagination. Somebody sits down, conjures
up an image of the deity, and then carves it out in wood and
stone, overlays it with gold, and so on and so on. That's what
it says in the scriptures. It begins with vain imaginations. Paul said to this church, if
our gospel be hid, it's hid to them who are lost, 2 Corinthians
4, 4, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds
of them, which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Now, I want you to hear me. Christ as a man is not to be
put into a picture form, not to be put into the form of a
statue, or some image of God. He is only the image of God. I'm talking about Jesus Christ.
He is only the image of God as he manifests God's character,
God's attributes, and the perfections of God. That's the image he projects,
not his facial image. But the image of God's character,
it was God's character that He justified on the cross. It was
God's character that He manifested in His life among men. He did no wrong. He said, which
of you convinces me of sin? Every one of you are bringing
all these charges and railing against me. He said, which one
of you can convince me of sin, any sin? You can't do it. This is the character of God.
He's the image of God as He manifests God's character. God's love is
manifested in His death. God's holiness is manifested
in His life. God's righteousness is manifested
in both His life and His death. And God's justice is manifested
in His suffering and His death. And God's faithfulness. is manifested
in his coming into this world, his living under the law, his
dying to the law, and in his intercession and glory. And a
vain imagination is one that perceives God to be one way when
in fact he is another. That's where it begins, vain
imagination. Religion teaches, or at the very
best, it implies that God will compromise his nature to save
sinners. He won't do it. That's not true. That's a lie. That's a lie. God will not compromise. He said,
I will by no means. Now, he states that he's gracious
and will be gracious. I'll be merciful to whom I will
be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. But he told Moses, and he's revealing
to Moses his character, his glory. Moses said, show me your glory.
He said, OK. Here it is. Here it is. I'll
be gracious. I'll be merciful. But now you
listen to me. I will by no means clear the
guilty. The guilty. Religion teaches. or implies
that God is one way when in fact he's not. The Bible said God won't compromise
his nature. Christ manifests that he will
not change in nature. And God's true servants declare
that he won't change and won't compromise. And to worship or
teach or set another image before men is idolatry. It's idolatry. And this is what brought the
old world to an end. God saw the wickedness of man.
It was great in the earth. And every imagination of the
thoughts of men were only evil continually. Men transform themselves into
the ministers of Christ through vain imaginations, and secondly,
by worldly influence. This world is filled with false
religion. Come on, any thinking man ought
to be able to drive down the road. There's a church on every
corner. What would be the reason for that? Why don't we all just
go to one church? Why all these churches? Why all
these different names? Why all these different doctrines?
This world is filled with false religion. And there's a religion
out there to suit you. Whatever it is you want, whatever
it is you're looking for, whatever it is that you find peace in,
all you got to do is go church to church to church and you'll
find it. You'll find it if that's what you want. This world's filled with false
religion. There's a church on every corner.
There's seminaries and schools and in every community, and these
churches and schools affect and influence the way our children
think about God and how we think about God. And this is what the Bible says
before us as the spirit of antichrist. Antichrist is anything or anybody
who's in opposition to the Christ of God. Men transform themselves under
the lying influence of anti-Christ religion. And then thirdly, this
self-transformation is accomplished by the working of Satan himself.
Look back at our text here in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 14. Now, he already told us about
this self-transformation. These men are deceitful workers.
They're deceived and deceiving others. All right? Verse 14, no marvel. I shouldn't
marvel at that, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel
of light. Therefore, it's no great thing
if his ministers... Is that what that says? Did I
read that right? It's no great thing if his ministers
also be transformed as ministers of righteousness. What is a minister
of righteousness? What's he talking about here?
He's talking about men who tell you if you keep the Sabbath,
you'll be righteous. If you pay your tithes, God will
look upon you as righteous. If you keep the Ten Commandments,
You'll win God's favor and He'll look upon you as a righteous
man. This righteous man, he keeps his hair cut, he keeps clean
shirts on, he wears a tie, he comes to church. Every time the
doors open, he does good in the community, visits the hospital.
That's self-righteousness. Satan's ministers are ministers
of righteousness. Self-transformed, transformed
under the working, under the deceit of Satan himself. No marvel, he said. Those who
are dead in trespasses and sins but were quickened by the spirit
of God, they once walked, the scripture said, according to
the prince of the power of the air, and they walked the course
of this work. It's the spirit, he said, that
now worketh in the children of disobedience. And then men transform
themselves by so-called conversion experiences. We're talking about
this self-transformation. How does this come about? How
did this man who was a drunk become a preacher? How did that
take place? How did that take place? Visions. Dreams, feelings, things born
out of desperation, things born out of disaster, hitting bottom. That'll do it. Or a religious frenzy. But no
man can transform himself into the true messenger of Christ. That requires a work of God,
first of all, in regeneration. Calling of God through the gospel,
the leading of God through the spirit, the faith of God, which
is his free and sovereign gift, and the message of God, which
is revealed by the Holy Ghost. Paul said, when it pleased God,
this is what he told the Galatian church, when it pleased God,
to reveal his son in me. He said, I'm talking about the
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
his grace to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among
the heathen. I'm telling you this. Everybody
else is a false apostle, a false preacher.