Turning our Bibles this evening
once again to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 and
beginning in verse 11 through the end of the chapter, I am
become a fool in glory. You have compelled me. For I
ought to have been commended of you. For in nothing am I behind
the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. Truly the signs
of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience and signs
and wonders and mighty deeds. For what is it wherein you were
inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome
to you? Forgive me this wrong. Behold,
the third time I'm ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome
to you, for I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought
not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though
the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. But be it
so, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I
caught you with God. Did I make a gain of you by any
of them whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, and with him
I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you?
Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we not in the same steps?
Again, thank ye that we excuse ourselves unto you. We speak
before God in Christ, but we do all things dearly beloved
for your edifying. For I fear, lest, when I come,
I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be
found unto you such as you would not, lest there be debates, envies,
wraths, stripes, backbiting, whisperings, swellings, tumults,
and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you,
and that I shall be well many which have sinned already, and
have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness
which they have committed." Tonight we're looking at the last verses
in this section of the letter in which the Apostle Paul was
compelled to do what he acknowledged to be folly. You notice in chapter
11 and verse 1, we saw that. Both chapters 11 and 12, he engages
in what he refers to as folly. That is, boasting. Chapter 11,
verse 1, he said, Would to God you would bear with me a little
in my folly. By folly, we know that he meant
boasting. Nothing, I believe, was probably
more reprehensible to the Apostle Paul than the fact that he was
compelled to do this. And that's what he says, they
had compelled him to do this. If you notice in verse 11, you
have compelled me. I'm become a fool and glorying.
You have compelled me. I thought as we sang that hymn
just a few minutes ago beneath the cross of Jesus, Remember
in Galatians, he said, God forbid that I should glory, boast, save
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. But in these two chapters
that we have looked at and are finishing tonight, he felt compelled
or said he was compelled to boast, which he called folly. And nothing,
in my opinion, nothing is more inconsistent with God's grace,
unmerited favor, than for any child of God to boast in himself
or herself. First, we have seen the Apostle
Paul boasted in his labors for Christ and in his sufferings
for Christ. And he had a long list, didn't
he, of places and things which he suffered as an ambassador
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then last week, we saw secondly
that he boasted also of the visions and the revelations which he
had. And one of those revelations,
you remember, was that he was caught up into the third heaven,
into paradise. And he heard words there that
he was not allowed to speak. Words, he said, that it was unlawful. to utter. And so God sent him
a thorn in the flesh, lest he be lifted up with pride. And
he asked the Lord three times, you remember this, he went to
the Lord three times in prayer and asked God that this thorn,
whatever it was, would be removed. And God answered him. And God
always answers our prayers. Now, he may not answer in the
way that we think he should answer, but he hears us when we pray. We have this confidence that
when we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. He
said, whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that will
the Father do. He always hears, he always answers
his children's prayers, there's no doubt about that. But he did
not answer Paul in the way Paul He asked that the thorn be removed. Now God answered his prayer,
and God answered his prayer by saying this to him, my grace,
my grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength, God said to
Paul, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Paul then,
after hearing that from the Lord, he was thankful. He was grateful
for those things which caused him to know, to realize, to feel
his neediness, his weakness, his inability. Because it was
then, he said, that the power of Christ rested upon him. That he was made strong, not
in his flesh, not in his own power, but recognizing his neediness. Then the hand of Christ was upon
him. And God's grace was sufficient. That's a truth that every child
of God learns. That's a truth that everyone
learns in becoming a child of God. That is our weakness, our
inability, our need. The psalmist said, I am poor
and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. And when a person is
made by the Spirit of God to recognize that, yes, we are poor,
spiritually poor, bankrupt, sinners, and not only poor but needy,
we need a Savior. We need someone to do for us
what we cannot do for ourselves. And that's how we come to know
Christ, isn't it? Out of a sense of need. A sense
of emptiness. The proud, the haughty, God sends
away empty. But those who come empty, He
sends away full. Now, we're going to look at two
things tonight in these verses that we just read, verses 11
through 21. First, I want us to see that
Paul charged those in the church at Corinth for compelling him
to boast. You see that in verse 11, I am
become a fool in Glorian, you have compelled me. Paul charges
those in the church here at Corinth for compelling him to boast. It was because of the failure
on their part part of the believers in Corinth to recognize certain
things that these false teachers, these false apostles, came among
them and began to tell, began to undermine the ministry, the
apostleship, the gospel of the Apostle Paul. And for that reason,
he was compelled, they failed to recognize certain things about
this man, the Apostle Paul, who brought the gospel to them in
Carth, by which they were saved, and a church was formed. Now
I see four things here tonight. First of all, Paul, the man of
God, used in bringing the gospel to them, was not behind the chiefest
apostles. Notice that in the last part
of verse 11. I am become a fool in glory,
you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended
of you. Now notice, for in nothing am
I behind the very chiefest apostles. Paul, the man God used in bringing
the gospel to them, was not behind the chiefest apostles. Now by
the chiefest apostles, it is usually understood Peter, James,
and John. If you turn over just a few pages
to the letter of Galatians, in chapter 2 of Galatians. And incidentally, even here we
see one of those revelations. He gloried in revelations, but
here in chapter 2 of Galatians, verses 1 and 2, we read, Then
fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
and took Titus with me also. Now notice, and I went up by
revelation. If these false apostles and false
teachers, they boasted in all of their revelations, Paul felt
compelled to boast in the revelations and the visions that he had experienced
as well. Here's one of them. But the point
I want to make, he said he was not behind the chiefest apostles. And we understand him to be speaking
primarily of Peter, James, and John. Those in verse 9 of Galatians
2, he said, and when James, Cephas, and John, now notice who seem
to be pillars, perceived the grace of God that was given unto
me. This is what Paul wrote about
them. They seem to be pillars. And
in this same place here in Galatians chapter 2, he tells of his conference
with them. And he says this, in conference
with them, they added nothing to me. In other words, Paul didn't
learn the gospel and the truth of God from Peter, James, and
John. He was not behind the chiefest
of the apostles. And the church there in Corinth,
they had been greatly blessed in God sending this man to them. And they failed to recognize
that he was not behind the chiefest of the apostles. They were not
lacking in any way. If John had brought the gospel
to Corinth, if Peter had brought the gospel to Corinth, if James
had brought the gospel to Corinth, they would not have been any
better off because Paul was not behind the chiefest of the apostles,
and they didn't recognize that. They listened to these false
teachers who began to say, well, he's really not on the same level
with those men, those other apostles, because he didn't travel with
the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not converted until after
the crucifixion, until after the resurrection, until after
the ascension. But you remember this in 1 Corinthians
15, Paul, when he mentions all of the persons who saw the Lord,
the resurrected Christ, and he referred to himself as one born
out of due time. He did see the Lord Jesus Christ. They all preached the same gospel.
Peter didn't add anything to Paul. And I was thinking about
this just a few minutes ago. You know the Roman Catholic Church,
they make a big deal out of Peter being the first pope. There's
no truth to it, but you know what they say. Well, Paul here
tells us plainly, Peter didn't add anything to Paul. He was
not behind the chiefest of the apostles. Peter, James, and John. They were all on the same level,
if I might use that term. They all preached the same gospel. They were all blessed by the
same Holy Spirit. They were all used of God in
preaching the gospel and God raising up churches in that day. I thought about the story I read
in Spurgeon's biography years ago. He was scheduled to preach. Some of you, I know, have heard
this story. You will remember it. But he
was scheduled to preach. And he was making his way to
that appointment by rail, on the train. And somehow they got
delayed. And so the meeting started, and
the people were there. And his grandfather, you know,
was a pastor also. And he started preaching, because
it was time to start. Charles Spurgeon hadn't arrived
yet, and after he started preaching, well, Charles Spurgeon came in,
and he called him right up to the platform, and he just took
up from the very same text his granddad was preaching from.
Now, I don't know if he said this at that time or later, but
he said this. He said, my grandson Charles,
he may preach the gospel better than I, but he cannot preach
a better gospel. And the same might be said about
Paul. His speech may not have been
on the same level with Peter or Apollos, who was known to
be a great eloquent speaker. But the gospel, that's the message
that God uses in saving sinners. It's not how it's delivered,
it's what is delivered. That's the gospel. He said, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation
unto everyone that believe it. Unto the Jew first and also unto
the Greek. So first of all, Paul, the man
God used in bringing the gospel to them was not behind the chiefest
apostle. They failed to recognize that.
Number two, Paul, the man that God used in bringing the gospel
to them, brought the signs of an apostle among them. Notice
that in verse 12. Truly, the signs of an apostle
were brought among you in all patience and signs and wonders
and mighty deeds. What were the signs of an apostle? Now, the word apostle means messenger. There were 12 apostles, that
is 12 men that the Lord Jesus Christ chose and ordained and
sent out to preach the gospel. There were other messengers and
sometimes that word apostle may be used for others, but there
were only 12 apostles. And there were certain requirements
There's no apostles today. We know that. Now there may be
messengers. A church might appoint a man
to be a messenger to go to a conference or something like that from that
church and call him an apostle. But that's not the same. Not
at all. An apostle, first of all, had
to have learned the gospel directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. You
know the gospel. I know the gospel. I'm so thankful,
aren't you? But I learned it from a man.
I did not learn it. I know God speaks through man. God used man to teach me the
gospel. I realize that. But these men,
these apostles, they learned the gospel directly from the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look in Galatians chapter 1,
back over just a page. That's the reason here Paul emphasizes
this fact. In Galatians 1 and verse 11,
he said, But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man. For I neither received it of
man, Neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ." So, to be an apostle, a man, first of all, he had to
have learned the gospel by revelation, that is, by Christ. And another
thing, he had to have seen the resurrected Christ. Not only
to have learned the gospel from Christ, but he had to be able
to teach and preach that he knew Christ was raised because he
saw him. He saw Christ bodily, and Paul
did on the road to Damascus. We know that he saw Christ. And an apostle, another thing,
when he wrote An apostle, he was inspired by God the Holy
Spirit. The Lord had promised this to
his disciples when the Spirit has come, this is in John chapter
16. He will guide you into all truth. These apostles, when they wrote
the Word of God, which we have, they were inspired by God the
Holy Spirit. And one other thing, distinguishes
an apostle, he could lay hands on a believer and that believer
would receive those extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now
one reason we know those gifts are not operative today in the
church is because there's no apostle to lay hands on anyone. Now the apostles, they laid hands
on a person, and they received the outpouring, the manifestation
of the Spirit of God, many times speaking in other languages.
That was one of them. That wasn't the only one. But
they could not, in turn, lay their hands on another person,
and that person received those gifts. That was peculiar to an
apostle. Now notice in this passage here,
Paul says in verse 12, truly the signs of an apostle were
wrought among you. Now what does he have reference
to? Well he names, first of all,
patience. That he calls a sign of an apostle. And by that we know what it means,
that is when he was in Corinth, you can read about this in Acts
chapter 18. I'll just read it for us. The Jews made insurrection
against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat. In other
words, he was persecuted while there in Corinth preaching the
gospel and yet he patiently, he patiently endured the persecution
for Christ's sake. That was a sign of an apostle.
He wasn't a hireling. A hireling, you know, turns tail
and runs because the sheep are not his. But Paul, he patiently
suffered the persecution there at Corinth. And then he mentions
what we would call miracles, signs and wonders, and mighty
deeds. I don't remember, I don't recall
any place in the scripture that we are told of any particular
miracle there at Corinth, but we know there was because he
here declares that these were wrought among them. The signs of an apostle were
wrought among them. They failed to recognize that. And number three, Paul, the man
that God used in bringing the gospel to them purposefully,
refused to be a burden to them. Notice in verses 13, 14, and
15. For what is it wherein you were
inferior to other churches, except? Now here's the only difference,
Paul said. Here's the only difference. If
this makes you inferior, then here it is. I was not burdensome
to you. I did not accept an offering
from you. I did not subsist, live. by your support. I worked with my own hands. I
was a tent maker. For what is it wherein you were
inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome
to you? Forgive me this wrong. If I was
wrong in that, forgive me that. If that means that you there
in Corinth are inferior to other churches where they did support
their ministers, They did support them, who preached the gospel
to them. If that was wrong on my part, forgive me that wrong.
Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not
be burdensome to you. I'm not going to do that. Thinking
of his next visit to them, he said, I was not burdensome to
you, and if I come again, and when I come again, I will not
be burdensome to you. For I seek not yours. I'm not
after your money. That's not my purpose. That's
not my goal. I'm not seeking what you have. I'm seeking you. And that's true
of every man that's called of God to preach the gospel. What
is our desire? It is to see sinners saved, first
of all, and then built up in the faith. Paul said, I'm not
seeking yours, but you. And then he gives this statement
here, for the children ought not to lay up for the parents,
but the parents for the children. I tried to tell that to a young
man several years ago. We were up in another state preaching,
and this young man wanted to take us out after the service.
And he insisted. It wasn't just Pat and I. It
was the pastor and his family and a couple of other families
there. And this young man, I knew he
was a worker, a laborer, a carpenter. And I tried to, I said, no, we'll
pay, I'm gonna pay. No, no, he insisted. And I told
him, I said, you need to look at that scripture there. And
I couldn't quote it exactly then, but when I got back to Houston,
I told his pastor, you tell him where to look at this scripture. Children ought not to lay up
for the parents, the parents for the children. Now that doesn't
mean that if parents are old and they need their children's
help, that their children shouldn't help them. The scripture says,
honor thy father and thy mother. We know that. That's one thing
the Lord accused the religious Jews about doing, wasn't it?
They'd just say carbon. And that meant they didn't have
any responsibility to watch after their older parents. If they
needed help, well too bad, carbon. Whatever I could use to help
you with, I've devoted that to God. Now Paul says that normally
children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents
for the children. And I will very gladly spend
and be spent for you. I spend everything I have, Paul
said. Not that he had much, but he
said, I'd be willing to spend everything that I have for you. I'm not seeking yours, I'm seeking
you. But then he said, though, the
more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. It seemed to
him that the more he showed his love for them, the less they
loved him. Now here's the fourth thing. Paul, the man that God used in
bringing the gospel to them, was accused of acting with craftiness. Notice in verse 16. But be it so, I did not burden
you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with God. What does
that mean? Well this is what the detractors,
his detractors in Corinth was saying. Oh yeah, that's true. He doesn't accept any money for
himself. He's crafty. He's crafty. What
he does, he sends men to you, you help them, and then they
in turn share that with the Apostle Paul. Now notice how Paul answers
that. Be it so, I did not burden you.
Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with Gaul. That's what they're
saying about me there. I know that. Did I make a gain
of you by any of them whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, and
with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we not in the same steps? In other words, They accused
me of being crafty, but you know, and you are my witness, that
these men that I sent to you, Titus, and men believe Luke,
were sent along with Titus, they walked in the same spirit, in
the same steps as the Apostle Paul. In other words, they were
not burdensome to the church at Corinth. Now here's the truth. Here's the bottom line. Notice
back in verse 11, I ought to have been commended of you. There it is. When the false teachers
came and began to undermine me and my ministry, and it was a
reflection on the gospel, that's the reason it was so important.
It was a reflection on the message the Apostle Paul preached. I
ought to have been commended of you. You didn't. This is what he charges those
at court. You didn't commend me. You forced
me to boast, though I be nothing. That's what he said about himself
at the very end of verse 11. For I am become a fool in glory,
and you have compelled me, for I ought to have been commended
of you. I brought the gospel to you. These four things we've
just looked at, all of that was true. You failed to recognize
that. You ought to have commended me. You should have spoken up.
When they charged me with being a thief or a covetous and just
seeking my own gain, you should have spoken up. When they charged
me with not being a true apostle of Jesus Christ, you should have
spoken up. Now, I don't believe that This
was true of all the people in Corinth, obviously, but enough
that Paul felt compelled or was compelled to boast. Now look
at this last part, and I'll be very brief. Paul feared that
when he came to Corinth that he would not find things as he
desired. Notice that in verse 20. For
I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would. Now, how do you suppose Paul
desired to find the people in Corinth? Well, I know. He desired to find each and every
one of them one hundred percent. with the same mind, the mind
of Christ. That's what he desired. But he
said, I'm afraid, I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find
you such as I would. I also believe it's fair tonight
for me to say that this was not true of the majority of the Corinthians. The majority of them loved Paul. And Paul was not afraid that
when he came that he would not find the majority of them as
he desired, but there was a substantial number of people there that he
feared he would find them, you notice, with debates. Remember
in the first letter, the differences, I'm of Paul,
I'm of Cephas, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Christ, the divisions
in the church, the debates. And out of that, these other
things came, envies, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings,
swellings, tumults. I'm afraid when I come, I'm not
going to find things like I would like. I would like everyone,
100%, everyone to be of the same mind, to have the mind of Christ. But I'm afraid I'm not going
to find that. And then he said, notice in the next verse, unless
when I come again, my God will humble me. What does that mean? He means by that, that when he
comes and he finds things like that in the church, he would
of necessity have to deal with it. And that would cause him
sorrow. No one likes to have to deal
with problems in a church. He'd rather come there and all
of them be of the same mind, all of them rejoicing in Christ,
all of them faithful. But he said, I'm afraid I'm not
going to find it like that. And that means that I'm going
to have to deal with some people. And that's going to cause me
sorrow. Nothing, let me close with this,
nothing causes a pastor more joy than to know that he ministers
to those who are walking in the truth. And I say that as the
Apostle John did in 3 John verses 3 and 4. He said, For I rejoiced
greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that
is in thee, Even as thou walkest in the truth, for I have no greater
joy, Apostle John says, I have no greater joy than that my children
walk in truth. Now the reverse is also true. I have no greater sorrow than
to hear my children, those that he ministered to, are not walking
in the truth. May the Lord bless this word
to all of us here tonight. Coming close to the end of this
letter, one more chapter, chapter 13, let's sing a few verses of