Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The Defender Bible Study is a weekly study of God’s Word as we seek to equip the Body of Christ to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children's Services.
Welcome to the defender bible study. A weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services, where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.
Chris Johnson:Welcome to the Defender Bible Study Podcast. Today is Monday, July 29, 2024. My name is Chris Johnson. I serve as the senior director of church partnerships and external advocacy at Lifeline Children Services. Today, we're continuing our look at the book of second Corinthians, and we're going to be today in second Corinthians chapter number 11 verses 1 through 15, looking at the the first half of this chapter verses 1 through 15.
Chris Johnson:Here again, we're seeing that that Paul is having to once again, defend his authority and his apostleship, with the Corinthians. He's this is something that he's had to do over and over again. I'm I'm sure he's in a in a tough place even having to deal with this. He says as much. He says that, you know, this is it's a it's a hard place.
Chris Johnson:If if he says too much about what he's accomplished or what God's done through him, then they accuse him of bragging. If he doesn't say enough about who he is, then they continue to discredit him and and lead people astray. And so there are these false teachers that are seeking to discredit, Paul and pull the the people there at Corinth away from his teaching. In verse number 1 of this chapter, Paul says, I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me.
Chris Johnson:And you get the idea. He's basically saying, look. I know I've addressed this, but I just feel like I need to say a bit more about it. It's crazy, and I keep having to defend myself and talk about this, but I'm gonna keep doing it until it finally clicks with you. And then he's gonna spend this chapter defending himself and defending his apostleship and, and and speaking about even the sufferings that he has faced as an apostle of Christ.
Chris Johnson:So let's look today at these first 15 verses. And in these verses, Paul's really just making a clear distinction between himself and the false teachers who are at work at Corinth. He he's ultimately showing them who they could trust and and what are the qualities and characteristics in him that are different from these false teachers that give the indication that that he can be trusted as opposed to those who are teaching in a way that is leading against the truth? In our world today, we have those who are preaching a true gospel and those who are leading folks away. We have those who are pointing people to the gospel of Jesus Christ, pointing people to the hope of Christ, and those that are pointing people away from that or encouraging people to to walk in their own in their own strength, their own truth, their own belief systems.
Chris Johnson:And it's imperative that in this time that that we as Christ followers, that we'd be able to discern who is preaching truth and who is propagating the lies of the enemy. So in this passage today, we're gonna see a clear distinction between the 2, between true teachers and false teachers. And and so I think the the key the key idea here is that every believer must be able to distinguish between true teachers and false teachers. So let's read together. 1st 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verses 1 through 15.
Chris Johnson:Paul says, I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me. For I feel a divine jealousy for you since I betrothed you to 1 husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaim, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, and or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it you put up with it readily enough.
Chris Johnson:Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge. Indeed, in every in every way, we have made this plain to you in all things. Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted? But because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge, I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.
Chris Johnson:And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. As the truth of Christ is in me, the boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you?
Chris Johnson:God knows I do. And what I am doing, I will continue to do in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission, they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.
Chris Johnson:Their end will correspond to their deeds. So how do we distinguish? How do we distinguish between a false teacher and a true teacher? Paul's gonna give us 4 different distinctives that we see in this passage that help us to be able to make that determination. First of all, we see that these types of teachers, they have different messages.
Chris Johnson:They have different messages. There in verses 2 through 4, Paul is really clearly saying that his message is Christ. His message is Christ. His message is the gospel of Christ. False teachers preach a message other than Christ, or maybe they say it's Christ plus, you name it, plus x y z.
Chris Johnson:They're wanting to add to the gospel. True leaders preach the gospel while false teachers add to it or take away from it. And and as Paul says here, they're preaching and proclaiming a different gospel. When we add to the gospel of Christ or take away from the gospel of Christ, it then becomes something completely different. And it's something that that is no longer the truth.
Chris Johnson:It's something that's no longer can be relied upon. Paul speaks here of his of his jealousy of these people and his protective heart for them. He kinda takes the role of a father who is giving his daughter away to her groom. He's taking the responsibility of presenting that daughter in a way of of purity, in a way of holiness, and he's expressing that his goal was to present them, the the people who are in court, the people who are part of the church, his goal was to present them complete in Christ, pure and holy. He had said in the book of Colossians, in Colossians 1, the last part of verse 27 into verse 28, he says, it's Christ in you, the hope of glory, him we proclaim.
Chris Johnson:We proclaim Christ warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. From the beginning, the enemy has tried to draw us away from this. Paul wants to preach Christ and lift Christ and present them complete and pure and holy in Christ, whereas the world is preaching a false gospel, Christ plus or taking away from the realities of the truth. You know, from the beginning, the enemy has tried to draw us away from the truth. Paul references here the the temptation of Eve that took place in the garden in Genesis chapter 3 as really an illustration of how false teachers work.
Chris Johnson:And he's saying, just like Eve was drawn away and tempted by Satan, the same is happening in your in your community, in your church. You know, as part of that that drawing away and that temptation of Eve, there was 3 things the same day. First of all, he questioned god. Did god really say that? Did god really is that really what he said?
Chris Johnson:And then second, he denied God's word. Well, God may have said that, but did he really mean is that really what he meant? I don't think God really meant that. Then he's then Satan substituted his own lies. This is what will really happen.
Chris Johnson:This is what will really take place if you take of this fruit, if you partake. So so Satan questions God. He denies God's word and then substitute his own lies. And and while true teachers point us to a sincere and pure devotion to Christ, false teachers draw us away from this. They do the same exact thing.
Chris Johnson:They tell us that it's okay to question God. It's okay to say, well, I don't know if that's really what God's word says, or I don't know if God's word that his word is really true and really in fact, can it really apply to our culture today? Does it really fit our context? False teachers then will will get us to start believing that God's word isn't the final authority, that it's not fully reliable and true. They'll begin to say that you can't trust all of God's word.
Chris Johnson:Not all of it fits for culture today. Not all of it fits our reality. And so they begin to minimize the the the the truth of his word. They begin to minimize the reliability of his word and, ultimately, the authority of god's word. And then they direct us to put our spin on God's word and interpret it in a way that lines up with culture or what we want it to say.
Chris Johnson:Again, they're doing the same things. They cause they tell us to question God's word. They tell us to deny God's word. And then if we're gonna believe it, then then at least put your own spin on it. You know, what is what is your experience lined up to God's word say?
Chris Johnson:Or what have you seen happen? Or what's going on in the culture of the world around us? We, as Christ followers, we must recognize this tactic as one straight from the enemy, and we must reject any message that is not Christ and his gospel alone. If we're gonna recognize true teachers and distinguish them from false teachers, we see they have different messages. Number 2, they have different methods.
Chris Johnson:They have different methods. Paul said in in verse 5 verses 5 and 6, he says, indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles. I get almost kind of this this sarcasm that Paul is saying. You know, you got these guys. You're calling these super apostles.
Chris Johnson:And and he's like, you know, they're we we're we have different methods. He says there in verse 6, even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge. Indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. The false teachers, they were slick with their words. Right?
Chris Johnson:They were they were cutting in their presentation. It was all about the the presentation and the sounding good and the super fluidity of words and and issues. But but but that's not that was not Paul. That was not his desire. He was not gonna use flattery.
Chris Johnson:He was not gonna tell tell the people what felt good to them or what they wanted to hear. He he uses the phrase in other places of tickling the ears. False teachers tickle the ears and use flattery. Paul said, hey. I may not be the most polished speaker, but I'm always going to speak the truth to you.
Chris Johnson:I'm gonna give you the truth, and I'm gonna try to do it in a way that you can understand, but also in a way that is direct. It may not always be what you wanna hear, but it's always gonna be what you need to hear. And we must be careful of those who present themselves as making more sense than the Bible, as having more knowledge, more understanding of things around us than God's word. They try to minimize and even mock the word of God. We can't fall for these tactics.
Chris Johnson:True teachers, false teachers, they have different messages. They utilize different methods. Number 3, they have different motivations. They have different motivations. You read verses 7 through 11, and you see real clearly that Paul was not about promoting himself.
Chris Johnson:Paul didn't preach these things to try to have an elevated position within the church or to get notoriety. He remained humble. He didn't desire to be exalted. He kept things in the right perspective. He didn't preach for personal gain.
Chris Johnson:He he says here, as a matter of fact, he's like, I've not asked you for anything. I have no desire to get anything from you. And then he says, you know, to be honest with you, I've not taken a salary for you from you, and and I probably was quite fair to others because they've been giving so that I could be able to present to you without taking anything from you. He was he was so concerned with not being a burden on the Corinthians that he didn't wanna burden them in order to to preach truth. And so he's saying here, hey.
Chris Johnson:You you gotta recognize the motivation of those that are that are preaching to you. Does their message promote themselves, or is their message promoting the gospel in Christ? We see in verse number 11 that really Paul's motivation was love. It clearly and and purely was. He says, why?
Chris Johnson:Because I do not love you? God knows I do. I think he's probably saying, you know what? You know I do too. Yeah.
Chris Johnson:Paul was able to say that my actions show that I'm not doing this for my benefit. I'm doing this for your benefit. That's what love is. The best definition I've ever heard, it's my favorite definition of love, love is acting in the best interest of another. It's kind of love that God showed us.
Chris Johnson:Right? Jesus didn't need to come and die, but he did so because he loves us, because he wanted what was best for us. And Paul says, hey. I didn't I'm not preaching, and I'm not here for personal gain. I'm not asking you for anything.
Chris Johnson:I'm not trying to build my reputation or my name or my network. He says, I'm here because I love you, and I want what's best for you. I want you to experience God's best. That's why I'm here, and my love for you should be clearly seen in my in the way that I am caring for you, in the way that I'm pointing you to truth. If a teacher or a leader is all about promoting or bettering themselves, then we better be careful.
Chris Johnson:True teachers and false teachers, they have different messages. They have different methods, different motivations, and, ultimately, they have different masters. They have different masters. You look at the last few verses of this passage, verses 12 through 15, and you see that that Paul is just kinda he's renewing his commitment to continue to represent Christ. And he says, hey.
Chris Johnson:Not everyone who claims to represent Christ really does so. Don't just listen to the flattery, but really hear what they're saying and really see the life that they're living. There are some who are deceitful, and they're trying to pass themselves off as representatives of Christ. Paul just lays it out plain. Ultimately, they are truly representatives of Satan.
Chris Johnson:He says, you know, hey. Even Satan disguised himself, so we shouldn't be surprised when his followers do the same. Satan presents himself as a as an as as a minister of light, an angel of light. And so we shouldn't be surprised when his followers present themselves as apostles of Christ, but the message that they're preaching, the things they're saying, and the way that they are acting does not align with the message of the true gospel. And and so when we see this, we can't follow these people.
Chris Johnson:We can't follow teachings just because they seem nice or good or have a mix of truth. We must compare everything to truth. The word of God must be the standard upon which everything else is compared. Whatever does not line up with the truth of God's word, it is a lie, and it must be rejected no matter how pretty the package may look. Kind of wrapping this up and seeing again these different messages, different methods, different motivations, and different masters, We see Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 15 and 16, and what a timely passage even for today.
Chris Johnson:Paul says, look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Man, we certainly are living in evil days today. And Paul says, look carefully how you're walking. Look around you. The old King James says says, walk circumspectly with an eye for what's happening around me, looking around and taking everything in.
Chris Johnson:And as we walk around and see what's going on in this world around us, we've gotta walk in godly wisdom. We gotta walk as the wise, not as unwise. We are living in evil days, and the enemy is doing all that he can to draw us away from the truth. So we, as his followers, we must be alert. We must be on guard, and we must be walking in god's wisdom.
Chris Johnson:We must be sure to discern truth from error so that we will be pure and holy before our God. You know, when when secret service agents are being taught to recognize forged money money, they they're not they don't study the forgery. They don't study the fake money. They don't study the pretend money. What they do is they study the real thing.
Chris Johnson:They get to know the real thing so that they know how it feels. They know what it looks like. They know how it smells. They know everything about it. And if we're going to be able to recognize truth from false teaching, we've got to do the same.
Chris Johnson:We must be students of God's word. We must be students of the truth. We must study the truth. We must meditate on the truth. We must digest the truth, take it in in every way that we can.
Chris Johnson:We must be people of the book. And the more that we that we read and study and look into the book, the more clear truth will become to us. The Holy Spirit will empower us, enlighten our eyes, open our eyes to see the truth of God's word. And so then when the false teaching comes, we're able to recognize that it does not line up with God's truth, and then we can can confidently reject the lie and embrace the truth. So let's follow the truth, and let's follow those who are proclaiming truth, those who are proclaiming Christ and Christ alone.
Chris Johnson:As we go to our time of prayer this week, our focus, this week is on our ministry of Families Count. If you don't know about Families Count, you can find out more at lifelinechild.org/families dash count. But it's a great ministry where we're seeking to equip churches to reach the birth parents of children in foster care or at risk of going into foster care. So let's pray for that team and that ministry as we conclude our time together this week. Dear heavenly father god, we we love you, and we thank you so much for your word.
Chris Johnson:We thank you god that your word doesn't just contain truth. It doesn't just lead to truth. Your word is truth, And your word can be trusted. It is infallible. It is authoritative, and we can we can base everything that our beliefs their belief system on the truth that is that is your word.
Chris Johnson:So, lord, I pray that you'd help us to be people of the word, that we would be people of truth. Help us to recognize false teaching and false doctrine and false leaders in our communities and in our spaces so that they can be rejected and we can continue to follow those who would point people to the hope of the gospel, point people to Christ. Lord, help us to walk circumspectly. Help us to see the world around us and help us to walk in a way that is full of your wisdom and your guidance and your truth. Lord, we thank you for the ministry of Lifeline and the way that you are using us to help come alongside local churches and Christ followers to equip them to manifest the gospel to vulnerable children, women, and families.
Chris Johnson:And, lord, as we do that, we pray specifically today for the Ministry of Families Count. This ministry that is helping churches understand the needs of the the birth parents, the biological parents of kids who are either in foster care or at risk of going into foster care. And so many of these families who are just don't have the resources or the support around them and certainly have not experienced the hope of the gospel. So I pray for our team, God, as we seek to train churches, as we seek to onboard churches and equip churches and help churches carry out this ministry. Lord, we know that, these families, they they need homes.
Chris Johnson:They need clothing. They need food. They need resource. They know all these things, god, but, ultimately, they need the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as churches preach and proclaim the gospel and do so in a loving way that also meets those felt needs, god, we are seeing families be reunited.
Chris Johnson:We're seeing birth parents come to know you as savior. And, god, we wanna see that happen over and over and over again. We thank you for the testimonies we've heard recently of of birth parents who were first introduced to their church through the Families Count Ministry. Now they've come to faith in Christ, and they're being discipled, and they're becoming a part of the fellowship of believers in their church. God, we wanna see that happen over and over and over again.
Chris Johnson:So I pray that you provide the tools and resources necessary. I pray that you bless and lead and guide our team. Give them wisdom as they seek to do your will. And, may we just have more opportunity, god, to see this ministry grow and to see more vulnerable broken families come to know you as savior and then to be supported and resourced and become a part of local churches all across this country and ultimately around the world. Lord, we know that the gospel is the only hope, and so we pray that we will continue to faithfully preach and proclaim that gospel, that you will be exalted in all we say and do.
Chris Johnson:For it's in the wonderful name of Jesus, our savior, we pray. Amen.
Herbie Newell:Thanks again for joining us for the defender bible study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the defender bible study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org.
Herbie Newell:We look forward to seeing you again next week for the defender bible study.