Would you turn with me to Second
Corinthians, chapter 11? Now, in this chapter, Paul refers
to what I just read from Acts, chapter nine, look at verse 31
of Second Corinthians, chapter 11. The God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I
lie not. In Damascus, the governor under
Artaeus the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison,
desirous to apprehend me. And through a window in a basket
was I led down by the wall and escaped his hands. I debated
on how to title this message. I came up with two titles. One
was Paul's Credentials. Paul's Credentials. And the other
title was Let Down the Wall in a Basket. And I think I'm going
to go with that one. What is the significance of him
telling this? Now, in verse one of Second Corinthians,
chapter 11, Paul said, Would you, God, you could bear with
me a little in my folly and indeed bear with me. I'm going to be
speaking foolishly and I want you to bear with me and listen
to what I'm saying. And he digresses and picks back
up with this thought in verse 16 of Second Corinthians, chapter
11. I say again, Let no man think
me a fool. If otherwise yet as a fool receive
me, that I may boast myself a little. Now, I want you to not look at
me as a fool, but understand that I'm going to be speaking
foolish right now. I'm going to start boasting about
myself a little bit. If someone boasts about themselves,
they're fools. Write it down. If someone's always
commending themselves, they're fools. And Paul says, don't think
of me as a fool, but I'm going to act like one. I'm going to
do some boasting. Verse 17, that which I speak,
I speak not after the Lord, but as it were, foolishly in this
confidence of boasting now. There were some men, some false
apostles that he'd spoken of in this passage of Scripture
that had been boasting themselves. He's saying, I'm going to do
what they did. So bear with me. Verse 18, saying
that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. Now he uses
some sarcasm here, for you suffer fools gladly, seeing yourselves
are wise. For you suffer, you put up with
it, if a man bring you into bondage. Now he's talking about these
false apostles, and here's what they did with the Corinthians.
You put up with this, if a man bring you into bondage, if a
man devour you, if he takes what's yours, if a man take of you,
if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. Now, In
your supposed wisdom, you're allowing these false prophets
to bring you into bondage just like this. Actually, this sounds
like the average reformed pastor he's talking about or the average
fundamentalist pastor having thinking they can treat people
like this. And he said, this is the way they're treating you.
Verse 21, I speak as concerning reproaches, though we've been
weak. They were accusing Paul of being weak. How be it whereinsoever
any is bold? They claim to be bold. I speak
foolishly. I'm bold also. They talk about
their boldness. Well, I'm just as bold as they
are. Are they Hebrews? Verse 22. So am I. They boast
about their pedigree. I've got the same pedigree. Are
they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham?
So am I. I've got the same pedigree they
do. He says in verse 23, are they ministers of Christ? They
claim to be. I speak as a fool, I'm more. I'm more. In labors,
more abundant. Hold your finger there and turn
to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Paul says of himself in verse
9, for I'm the least of the apostles that am not meet to be called
an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the
grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace was which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all. Now, Paul saying, I labor more
than the true apostles. And he wasn't saying this in
arrogance. He knew it was only by the grace of God he did this.
But he said, I labor more than them. These fellows talk about
their labors. I labor more than they do. Back to our text in
2 Corinthians 11. in labors more abundant, in stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft." Now,
there, speaking of all that they do, I'm being whipped with the
cat and nine tails five times for preaching the gospel. I don't
see that on these false apostles' resumes. I'm routinely put into
prison. For my preaching, I'm incarcerated,
I'm jailed, people get so mad at me that they put me in prison.
I'm constantly exposed to death because of my preaching. I don't
see that happening to these fellas. Why is that? Well, I can answer that at a
different message. At a different message. They
had removed the offense from the cross. Remember, in Galatians,
chapter five, verse 11, where Paul said, if you turn with me
there, just a few pages over Galatians, chapter five. And I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision. If I yet make salvation dependent
upon something you do, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then
is the offense of the cross ceased? You see, when you remove the
offense from the cross, you won't suffer persecution the way Paul
was. Now, we're going to get back
to that in a minute, but let's go on reading. I want to get down to the end
of the chapter. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool.
I'm more and labor is more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons,
more frequent in deaths off of the Jews. Now, here's here's
what I've gone through for preaching the gospel of the Jews. Five
times received 40 stripes, save one. He was beat with a cat of
nine tails. Thirty nine lashes across the
bare back with a whip whipping out the flesh. Can you imagine
how scarred his back must have looked? He says, thrice was I
beaten with rods in verse 25. Men had rods and I was laid on
the ground and they were beating me because of my preaching. Now,
these false super apostles, I don't see that happening to them. You
know, they talk a lot, but look what I'm going through. He says,
once was I stoned. You remember in Acts chapter
14 where he'd been preaching in Lystra and all of a sudden
the people picked up rocks and they stoned him and thought he
was dead and drug him out and he got back up. He said, thrice,
I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day have I been
in the deep. Now, think about this three times. He'd spent
a full 24 hours treading water in an ocean where he'd been going
somewhere to preach. And there was a shipwreck. Verse
26, in journeyings often, I travel constantly in perils of waters,
in perils of robbers. You know, if you were going to
preach the gospel somewhere and a bunch of robbers came and robbed
you, you'd think, Lord, I'm going to preach the gospel. Why is
this happening? I'm sure that went across Paul's mind that
he was he was robbed in perils by my own countrymen, the Jews,
in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren. Verse 27, in weariness, broken
up and painfulness, A body racked with pain and watchings off,
and that means sleeplessness and hunger and thirst. I don't
have enough to eat and fastings often in cold and nakedness,
being out on a cold night like this and not having sufficient
clothing to keep you warm. This is what I've gone through
for preaching the gospel. Besides those things that are without
that which comes upon me daily, the care of all the churches. What a burden that was. Who is
weak, he says in verse twenty nine, and I'm not weak. Who is
offended? And I burn not because of the
daily care of the churches. I take all these things personal.
If someone is weak, I feel weak right with them. If somebody
stumbles, I burn in frustration. And, you know, even in pastoring
a small church like this, anything happens, I take it personally.
And Paul had all this going on. I mean, he said, look, look what
I got going on. He says in verse 30, if I must
needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern my infirmities. Now I've been speaking foolishly
about all that the Lord has used me to do. But if I really need
to glory, I'm going to glory in the things which concern my
infirmities. And we're going to get back to that in a moment.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed
forevermore, knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus, the governor
under Artaeus, the king kept The city of the Damascenes with
a garrison desires to apprehend me and through a window in a
basket was I let down by the wall and escaped his hands. Now,
what is the significance of that? Why is he giving that biographical
information? Let's go back to Acts chapter
nine for a moment. Verse 10. And this is after The
Lord had met Paul on the road to Damascus, and there was a
certain disciple of Damascus named Ananias. And to him said
the Lord in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Behold, I'm here,
Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the street
which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas
for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth and hath
seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting
his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias
answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much
evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem, and here he hath
authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on thy
name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a
chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and
kings and children of Israel, for I will show him How great
things he must suffer for my name's sake. And we just read
of all that suffering that he did. And the Lord said, I'm going
to show him the great things he must suffer for my name's
sake. What will I do for his name's
sake? I'm asking myself that question.
I'm asking you that question. Not out of hope for reward or
for recognition from my fellow worms, but what will I do for
Christ's sake? I know what the Father does for
Christ's sake. Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. I know what He
did for my sake. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though He were rich, Yet for your sakes,
he became poor that you through his poverty might be rich. What would I do? Would I count
it a privilege? And I want us all to ask ourselves
this question. Would I count it a privilege and a high honor
to be allowed to suffer for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ? Would I count it a privilege
of grace to be allowed to suffer for his namesake. Verse 17, in
Acts chapter 9, Ananias went his way and entered into the
house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the
Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou
camest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and
be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from
his eyes, as it had been scaled, and he received his sight forthwith,
and arose and was baptized. And when he received meat, he
was strengthened. Then we saw certain days with
the disciples, which were Damascus and straight way. There wasn't
any period of transition immediately. Right now, he preached Christ
in the synagogues that he is the son of God. He began to preach
Christ. He didn't preach about Christ.
He preached Christ, who he is. The son of God. Now, I want you to understand
this. Listen to this statement very carefully. You don't come
to Christ through doctrine. You arrive at your doctrine through
him. When you find out who he is,
the doctrine becomes obvious. You don't. Come to Christ through
doctrine. You don't learn, learn, learn,
learn. Oh, I've found it. No. You come to your doctrine,
what you believe, when you find out who He is. Here's what I'm saying. If you
believe He's God Almighty, the God-Man, incapable of failure,
if you believe He's the mighty Creator of the universe, if you
believe that He is all-powerful, If you believe he's all wise,
if you believe what the Bible says concerning him, it would
be impossible for you to believe that he could die for somebody
and they end up in hell anyway. It would be utterly impossible.
If you believe who he is, you believe that if he died for you,
you must be saved because of who he is. It's Christ that died. Now, he preached Christ, God's
prophet, God's priest, God's king, that he is the son of God. Verse 21. But all that heard
him were amazed and said, Is not this he that destroyed them
which called on this name in Jerusalem and came hither for
that intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priest?
But Saul increased the mooring strength and confounded. That
word confounded actually is said in an uproar. The Jews which
dwelt at Damascus proving that this is very Christ. And as soon
as Paul started preaching, now here's the point. As soon as
Paul started preaching, after the many days were fulfilled,
the Jews took counsel to kill him. But their laying awake was
known as Saul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill
him. Then the disciples took him by the night and led him
down by the wall in a basket." Now, why does Paul bring up this
incident in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 when he was letting them know
when he was doing this foolish boasting about his own experience
in comparison with these false apostles. Well, he was showing
them that from the very beginning, when he was preaching, there
was persecution. There was uproars. There were
murder attempts. And that was not happening to
these fellows who were boasting about how much God was using
them. Now, why? Why wasn't it happening to them?
It was happening to Paul when he heard his own testimony about
it. Everywhere I go, I'm beat, I'm
thrown in prison, there's murder attempts on me, I'm mistreated. Everywhere I go, I know that's
going to happen. I know anywhere I go, after I
preach, they're going to grab me, they're going to arrest me,
they're going to beat me, they're going to put me in jail. When I get let out,
I'm going to go somewhere else and preach, and the same thing
is going to happen again. That's not happening to these fellas.
Why not? Why weren't they suffering persecution?
Because they had removed the offense, the scandal from the
cross. Now go back with me to Galatians
chapter five. Now, what these fellows were
saying, these false apostles were saying, you need to be circumcised
along with the death of Christ. Now, understand this about this
issue of circumcision. It's part of the law to say,
yes, you're saved by grace. Yes, you're going to have Christ
die for you, but you also need to do something. You need to
be circumcised. And really, circumcision, as
painful as it may be, is the easiest commandment to keep. If you think of that, of all
the commanders, what would be easier? What would be easier?
To never tell a lie or to be circumcised? What would be easier? To never have a lustful thought
or to be circumcised? What would be easier? Just name
any of the ten commanders. Why it would be, being circumcised,
putting yourself up to that would be as difficult as that would
be. And I can't even stand to think of it. Nobody here can.
But that would be much easier Then. Keeping one commandment
with it, so when he's talking about circumcision, he's actually
talking about the easiest commandment to keep. Now, what does he say
about it? He says in verse 11, and I, brethren,
if I yet preach circumcision, if that's what I was preaching,
that's. Salvation is some way dependent
upon what you do, why do I yet suffer persecution? He said,
obviously, I'm not preaching circumcision because I am suffering
persecution. You see, if you preach circumcision,
you take away the offense of the cross. Now, that word offense
is where we get the word scandal from. Everybody knows what a
scandal is. A scandal is something that arouses
strong feelings by that scandalous It causes people to stumble.
It causes people to to war. I can't go that direction. I
won't believe that the scandal, the scandal of the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is the scandal of the
cross? Now, if I preach the scandal
of the cross, I will suffer persecution. And if I'm not suffering persecution
for what I'm preaching, the reason is I've removed the scandal from
the cross. And if I remove the scandal from
the cross, I remove the saving power from the cross, and I'm
not preaching a message that God will ever bless. Now, what
is this thing? This is what I want to dwell
on with the rest of our time. What is this thing of the scandal
of the cross that creates such persecution where Paul was whipped
and beaten every time he preached? You know, almost almost which
was more like that in our day, because people are so benign
and all the laws. I'm thankful that we can't get
beat up and incarcerated for preaching. In a way, I'm thankful
for that, but in a way, I wish we would be. It would be an honor,
and maybe people would hear what we're saying more clearly. But
what is this thing of the scandal, the offense, the scandal of the
cross? Let me give you four or five
things. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the holy, spotless Lamb
of God, the one who is without blemish, without spot, without
stain, the one who never sinned, was nailed to a cross. Now, why was he nailed to a cross? That's the big question. Why
was he nailed? to the cross. Well, men mailed
him there. He was a political revolutionary
and he was bothering the Roman government. They were going to
put him out of business. Well, yeah, no. That's not why they put him
there. He was delivered there by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. He was put there because God
put him there. Well, didn't men do it? Men were
just the instruments. God put him on the cross. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. That's why he was hanging on
that cross. God put him on the cross. Now, the next question
is why? Why would God nail his son to
a cross or allow men to do it? And all being part of this purpose
and counsel, why would he do it? Why would he kill him? And it was God who killed him.
Did men kill him? Yes, but they were just instruments
in God's hand, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. You have taken and with wicked
hands have crucified and slain. Everything that happened was
according to God's purpose. Now, why? Why did God kill him? Well, what's the one reason for
death? Sin. Sin. But I thought you said he
never sinned. He never sinned. But the scripture
says, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. Christ, the sin of His people,
actually He bore it in His own body on the tree. Can you explain
that to me? No, I can't, but I know that's
what happened. Somebody says that's scandalous. That's scandalous
to say the Holy Son of God would actually bear sin in His own
body on the tree. It may be scandalous, but it's
the truth. And that's the only way me or you could be saved
is if my sin became his sin and he bore it in his own body and
bore all the wrath and hell of God as the sinner substitute.
All that hell is he experienced because all that sin is he experienced. Now, he never committed sin,
even when he was hanging on the tree. He never committed sin,
but he experienced everything regarding sin when he was made
sin. That's scandalous. Maybe, but it's the truth. And
the only way that a sinner can be righteous before God is if
their sin became His sin. And His righteousness becomes
their personal righteousness before God. The scandal of the
cross. When He said, It is finished. You remember those words from
the cross. When he said it is finished, that was a declaration
that everybody he died for, their salvation was accomplished. That
means that what he did saved without any reference whatsoever
to my works saving me. My works, my preaching, my prayers,
My efforts, whatever they may be, you know how much they count
before God? Absolutely nothing. I'm saved
without reference to anything that I do simply because He died
for me. Why that's scandalous. What about,
that doesn't give anybody a reason for good works. If you can't
do something in order to save you, so you've got no motive
for obedience. You mean you're totally saved without reference
to anything you do? Yes. Why, that would lead men
to sin. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't.
Why, that's scandalous. No, it's not. I'm saved by what
he did without any reference at all to my works. And listen
to this. You know what that means? That
means my salvation and your salvation is up to him. You have no control
in this. You have absolutely no control. It's up to him as to whether
or not you'll be saved or whether or not you'll be damned. No control. Why, that's scandalous. What
about our rights? What about? You don't have any
rights. You don't have any rights. We
forfeited our rights by our own personal sin before God. And
we're in the hands of the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ. Our salvation
is up to him. Now, the cross. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ,
you see that one hanging on the cross, that tells me how evil
men really are. I'm not asking you to look within
your heart to find out how sinful you are. No doubt you can look
into your heart and see some very sinful, unclean things. We're all ashamed of that. Anybody
that's honest knows there's bad, evil things that pass through
the heart. Let me tell you this, at the tip of the iceberg, the
cross lets us know, that one hanging on a cross, that when
God left men to themselves, and let them do what they wanted
to do. He left men to their will. He
delivered Jesus to their will. When men had the opportunity
to do what they wanted to do, they murdered the Son of God. Now, what the cross tells me
is that there's no evil that I would not do. Do you believe
that about yourself? Even if the cross tells me that
if I'm left to myself and God doesn't restrain me, I would
put to death the Son of God. Now, see, the cross reveals men's
enmity toward God. Men don't even know their enmity
toward God until they hear the truth. And it's when they hear
the truth that they respond in anger. And that's what the cross
does. It's a declaration of the absolute sinfulness and wickedness
of all men by nature. The scandal of the cross tells
us there's no scandal that you and I will not commit, apart
from His grace. No scandal. The cross tells us how holy God
is. When God found sin on His Son,
He killed Him. Why, that scandal! truth. God is so holy that when he found
sin on his son, he killed him. Now, somebody might think, well,
how can God do that if the sin wasn't really his? I mean, if
it belonged to his people, how could God do that? We're looking
at it wrong. It was his sin. When my sin became his sin, he
became guilty of it, so that it was his sin. And that's why God killed him.
He didn't look at it and say, now, I know you didn't do it,
but I know you're doing it for these people. Therefore, I'm
going to kill you. Where's your justice there? The only one who
deserves to be damned is the one who committed the crime.
The only one who deserves to die is the one who committed
the crime. And when my sin was imputed to
him, he became guilty of it. It became his sin, and it was
his father Who killed him? The cross is a declaration of
the righteousness and the holiness of God. And listen to this. Talking about the cross being
a declaration of the righteousness and holiness of God. Because
of the cross, when God saves me, when God reveals himself
to me, when I'm brought into heaven, When I stand before God
in judgment, and I'm accepted, it'll be because that is what
I fully deserve. I won't be having a head-down
thing, you know, I don't deserve. No, I will fully deserve all
of God's favor, all of God's acceptance, the very righteousness
and justice of God demands the salvation of everybody that Christ
died for. Because just as truly as my sin
truly became his, his righteousness truly becomes mine so that I
stand before God accepted. You say you actually deserve
to be saved? Yes. Why, that's scandalous. No, it's not. It's true. That's what the cross of Christ
accomplished. Now, back to Galatians, I mean,
2 Corinthians chapter 11. Now, Paul had been glorying in
all these things, and he says in verse 30, if I must needs
glory, If it's necessary for me to glory, to have confidence
in something, I glory in the things which concern mine infirmities. Now, with that in mind, this
is the last scriptural look at Galatians chapter six. Verse 12. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh, and isn't that what most religion is? A
fair show in the flesh, trying to show off something. They constrain
you to be circumcised. They say you need to be circumcised.
And the reason they do that is to avoid persecution for the
cross of Christ. You know, there's no scandal
in that. For neither, verse 13, for neither they themselves who
are circumcised keep the law. You know, they tell you you need
to, but they don't. But they desire to have you circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh. Look how I've been an influence
for good on these people. Paul says in verse 14, but God
forbid that I should glory. God forbid that I should have
confidence in. God forbid that I should rejoice
in. God forbid that I should glory
in anything save the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now remember
who's speaking. Paul the Apostle. The man God
used more than any other man to expound the gospel. Now this
man, he wrote 13 books in the Bible. This man was used to,
more than any other man, to expound the gospel of God's grace. Oh
how the Lord's hand was on this man. This is the man who was
brought up into the third heavens. He was taught the gospel directly
by the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, God forbid that
I should glory in any of that. The only thing I can glory in
is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me. Now, all I glory in is the cross. What the Lord accomplished on
the cross. And when our Lord was hanging
on that cross, There were two other crosses, three crosses
at that time. On the first cross, we have a
man dying in his sin. As he lived in hatred for God,
in unbelief, so he died. And the moment he died, he woke
up in hell. And on the second cross, we have
a man dying for sin. He was dying for sin. Sin was placed upon him, the
sin to this people, and he was bearing the full brunt of God's
wrath for sin. And remember this, when he died,
the scripture says he saw no corruption. His body didn't go
into the process of decay like ours does immediately when we
die. He saw no corruption. Why is
this? Because his death rendered full
satisfaction. And God says, I can ask no more. Sin was paid for. Those sins
that he died for, he actually paid for and he put them away.
So on the one cross, we have a man dying in his sin. On the
second cross, we have this one dying for sin. And on this third
cross, we have a man dying to sin. As sinful as he was, Christ
said to him, today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. And he was just as sinful as
his buddy. They both began cursing Christ, but because of this one
who died for sin, he can look at this thief. He didn't have
any good works. He couldn't do anything. He was
nailed to a cross. He'd never given a dime to the
cause of Christ. He'd never gone. This was it. Yet our Lord could look at this
thief, seemingly so abandoned and say, today thou shalt be
with me in paradise. And you know what? The moment
that thief died, he awoke in paradise. He was the first one
the Lord brought with him as he ascended back to glory. Now,
these fellows who were hounding on Paul, you need to listen to
us. You don't need to listen to him.
Paul gives his credentials. These fellows don't have these
credentials being beat and whipped everywhere he goes for preaching
the gospel. Why didn't they have them? Because
they'd remove the offense from the cross. And may the Lord deliver
us from ever removing the offense from the cross. And may he teach
us what it is to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.