Embracing the Gospel in deceptive times

In the past few years, we have a new term in our vocabulary. You probably hear and read it daily. It is the phrase, “fake news“. It’s a new term but the idea behind it has been around since sin entered the world. The Apostle Paul had to confront fake news almost 2,000 years ago in his second epistle to the church in Corinth. This week, at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are going to study II Corinthians 11 where we will discover how the Apostle Paul dealt with the fake news of his day. This lesson will give us much insight into how we can confront fake news today. People have always been easily deceived and our enemy, the Devil, loves to use fake news tactics to deceive us today, especially when it comes to spiritual teachings. As I mentioned earlier, fake news has been around forever. There is a pattern to fake news and we will discover that pattern as we examine Paul’s letter.

Take a moment to read II Corinthians 11:1-15.

I. False believers

The Apostle Paul uses much ink in this chapter to explain the differences between false believers and genuine believers. In verses thirteen and fourteen, Paul describes false believers as a way to confront them as well as a way to reveal them to the genuine believers around them. The Apostle Paul does not condemn the false believers, instead, he expose them. This exposure is done for the good of the false believers as well as for the good of the genuine believers. As we read the description of the false believers, we should not immediately look around us to try and find them. Instead, we should take a long hard look in the mirror to make sure that we are not one of them.

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (II Corinthians 11)

The apostle begins by revealing that the false believers are very good at disguising themselves among genuine believers. The word disguise means to “hide behind a veneer“. As a word picture, it means to cover up with makeup. False believers have something to hide and they are pretty good at hiding it. Unlike genuine believers, false believers are insincere. Their true motives are not out in the open. The word “false” is a translation of the Greek word “pseudes“. We get the word pseudo from this Greek word. It means false. I remember my days of college biology where we learned about pseudo limbs in a cell. From a distance, the appendage looked like a foot but upon closer review, it became clear that it only looked like a foot. It actually was not a foot and did not function as a foot. This is what false means here in this passage. False believers may look like genuine believers from a distance. They have learned the rituals and the lingo but upon closer review, it becomes clear that they are not genuine believers. The second word tied to false is “apostle“. The word apostle simply means messenger. There is a problem with their message. It is not genuine. Paul developed that idea earlier in the text and we will examine that in a bit. The final description of false believers in these two verses is the word deceitful. This word means to be crafty, to use trickery, to be fraudulent. It is what duck hunters use when they are out hunting. They set up decoys to trick the real ducks, causing them to come in for a landing so that the hunters can shoot them from a closer distance. The Soviet Union used this tactic when they painted over rusted tanks to make them seem powerful and dangerous. False believers can be tricky because they seem like genuine believers until you unpack what they actually believe and teach. They can be dangerous because they can easily infiltrate the camp of genuine believers and cause all kinds of problems. Finally, the Apostle Paul says that the false believers will be known by their deeds. They question that arises is, “what are the deeds of the false believers?”

3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. (II Corinthians 11)

False believers teach things in a crafty way that mess with the minds of the audience. Their teachings, when applied, will lead people astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. They are not devoted to Christ and their audience will not be devoted to Christ either. Just as the Devil caused Eve to doubt the Word of God, so these people will cast doubt in the minds of their audience to the Word of God. Have you ever encountered anyone who tried to cause you to doubt the Word of God? They will preach a different Jesus Christ than the One who is revealed to us in the Word of God. Mormons teach a different Jesus than the One in the Bible. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach a different Jesus than the One in the Bible. The Apostle Paul reveals the motives of the false believers in verse twelve.

But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. (II Corinthians 11:12)

False believers want to use Christ, the Word of God, and their opportunity to gain an audience for the sole purpose of making a money profit. They are not driven by pure devotion to Christ. They are driven by the opportunity to use people to make money. If I started listing the supposed “Christian” teachers who use their platforms to make money, the list would be quite long. There are many who have made millions off of peddling a false Gospel. What motivates you to follow Christ? What motivates you to preach the Gospel of Christ to others?

II. Genuine believers

Now we will turn our focus to the genuine believers. The Apostle Paul contrasts them with the false believers and it helps bring clarity to the subject.

2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.
3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. (II Corinthians 11:2-3)

Genuine believers are jealous for devotion to Christ. The word jealous means “excitement” or “fervor“. As a word picture it means to be heated up the way that water molecules bounce off of each other creating friction by being agitated. Genuine believers have a burning passion for devotion to Christ. Devotion means to dedicate to a cause, to sacrifice for a cause. A genuine believer is dedicated to following Christ. A genuine believer is ready to sacrifice time, effort, energy, and resources to follow Christ. Does this describe your relationship to Jesus Christ? Are you dedicated to following Him no matter what? Do you sacrifice time, effort, energy, and resources to follow Christ? Not only that but, a genuine believer is passionate about helping others follow Christ. Looking back over the past couple of years, have you dedicated yourself to helping others follow Christ? We also discover that a genuine believer confronts false teaching that can lead others away from following Christ. Are you willing to take a stand and confront false teaching about Christ in order to help others keep from being led astray?

For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. (II Corinthians 11:4)

Yet another characteristic of a genuine follower of Christ is the fact that he preaches Jesus Christ as He is revealed to us in the Gospel, the Holy Word of God. Do you preach the Jesus of the Bible to the people around you? There is a cultural “Jesus” that many want to follow. He is not the Jesus of the Bible. A genuine believer makes sure that he is preaching the Jesus of the Bible to others.

6 But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.
7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?
8 I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you;
9 and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so. (II Corinthians 11)

The Apostle Paul was a great communicator. He had oration skills as well as writing skills. He did not rely on those skills when teaching Christ to others. Instead, he focused on helping others discover Jesus through knowledge of the Word of God. Paul did not focus on his skills and abilities. He focused on the Jesus of the Bible. The Apostle Paul did not want the people to have to depend on him and his amazing skills. He wanted to teach the people to depend on Christ. His goal was to equip the people in such a way that they could stand on the knowledge of Christ that they had attained from the Word of God. This is what genuine believers do. When you teach others about Christ, is the focus on you and your skills or, is your focus on equipping people to discover the Truth about Christ for themselves based on the Jesus of the Bible? We all need to reflect on who the focus of our ministry is, on ourselves or on Christ. A genuine believer is also humble. As I read this written by Paul, I think of John the Baptist’s famous statement:

“He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)

That is a beautiful picture of humility. John did not see Jesus as competition in ministry. He knew that his calling was to point people to Jesus Christ and not to himself. May we all follow John’s beautiful example of humility when it comes to serving others by preaching Christ to them. Another beautiful truth about a genuine believer is that he does not seek to use the people to whom he ministers as a way to make a financial profit. That is what the false believers of Paul’s day were doing. The Apostle Paul was the exact opposite. He did not want to use the people to whom he ministered. Instead, he wanted to serve the people around him with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A final thing that we discover about genuine believers in these three verses is the fact that a genuine believer seeks to sacrifice financially in order to get the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people around him. The Apostle Paul did that. He also encouraged other believers to give sacrificially so that he could take the Gospel to the people of Corinth. Paul is trying to teach the Corinthians to give sacrificially as well, not to line his own pockets but, instead, to help the Gospel reach more and more people. Corinth was a very wealthy city. It seems that the Christians in Corinth were not being very generous when it came to giving sacrificially for the Gospel to spread. The churches in Macedonia were extremely poor, yet they gave sacrificially so that the Gospel could extend to Corinth. Giving sacrificially has nothing to do with being rich or poor. It has everything to do with a person’s devotion to Christ. The Macedonian church members were dedicated to Christ and the ministry of the Gospel. They stand as an example for the Corinthians and for us today. Do you give sacrificially to help the Gospel spread?

Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! (II Corinthians 11:11)

A genuine believer has genuine love for the people around him. The Apostle Paul had already sacrificed so much to bring the Gospel to Corinth. Now, some of the Corinthian believers began attacking him and questioning his motives due to the false teaching that they had heard and believed. It would have been easy for Paul to wash his hands of the Corinthian church and continue planting new churches. He did continue to plant new churches yet, at the same time, he genuinely loved the Corinthian believers so he dedicated time, effort, energy, and resources to show his love to them in writing this letter. He did not give up on them even though some among them had given up on him.

12 But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (II Corinthians 11)

The final thing that we discover about genuine believers is that they confront and stop false teachers from destroying the faith of others by exposing the false teachers for who they are. The Apostle Paul lays out the characteristics of false believers so that the genuine believers will be aware of them and stay away from their destructive teachings. Paul did not call every one of the false teachers by name. Instead, he described what they were like so that the people could examine the teachers’ message and lifestyle and know whether to listen to them or not. I could go down the list of false internet preachers today but that would be a long list that would continue to grow. Instead, the best thing to do is reveal the characteristics of a false teacher the way that the Apostle Paul does for the Corinthians.

Based on all that we have learned in this passage, I want to ask you some application questions. Please take time to read these and think through your answer.

1. What are some pseudo teachings about the Bible or from the Bible that you have heard?
2. Have you ever encountered someone preaching a “christ” other than the Christ in the Bible?
3. Have you ever encountered preachers who use spiritual teachings in a deceitful way to make money off of unsuspecting people?
4. Are you driven by an internal excitement for pure devotion to Christ?
5. Are you teaching others how to have pure devotion to Christ?
6. Do you know how to recognize false teachings and teachers?
7. Do you look for the skill of the speaker or the essence of the message when listening to others preach about Christ?
8. Do you see sacrificial service as being vital to the Gospel?
9. Do you have a genuine love for the people around you?
10. Do you help others know how to spot false teachings and teachers?

May the Lord help us apply all of the deep truths that we discovered in this text!