2 Corinthians 11

2 Corinthians 11:1

“You have ten thousand instructors, but not many fathers,” Paul had told the Corinthians (see 1Co_4:15). In chapter 11, we see the heart of a father in Paulhis jealousy for the Corinthians in verses 2Co_11:1-4, his generosity toward them in verses 2Co_11:5-11, and his anxiety about them in verses 2Co_11:12-28. In Paul’s day, it was the responsibility of the father to ensure that his daughter was a virgin on her wedding day. If she wasn’t, he would be put to shame. Thus, as the spiritual father of the church at Corinth, it was Paul’s responsibility to make sure they retained their purity, that they weren’t seduced by those who sought to lure them away from the simplicity of the gospel.

2 Corinthians 11:3

How was Eve seduced? Not by being offered a sip or a peek or a puff, but by the potential to be more spiritual. So, too, false teachers came into the Corinthian congregation, saying that Paul’s teaching was too simple, that there was something deeper they needed to explore and experience.

2 Corinthians 11:4

Paul picks up the same theme in Galatians 1 when he says, “If an angel comes and preaches another Jesus, another gospel, let him be accursed.” If there’s a single issue in the New Testament that seems to be fighting ground, it’s over the issue of the deity of Jesus.

2 Corinthians 11:5

The false teachers claimed to be “super apostles.” Yet, although Paul would claim to be the least of the apostles and the chief of sinners (1Ti_1:15), he doesn’t say he was less than any of these pseudo-spiritual teachers.

2 Corinthians 11:6

“My speech might be a little rough,” said Paul, “but not my knowledge.” Asked to quote Psalms 23, the famous Shakespearean actor articulated each and every phrase perfectly. Then the host of the party asked his pastor, who was also in attendance, to quote the same psalm. The pastor lacked the rhythmic cadence, the powerful voice, and the smooth speech. All he had was a tear rolling down his cheek. “I know the psalm,” said the actor. “But this man knows the Shepherd.” Paul knew the Shepherd. Paul knew Jesus. “I might not match up to your favorite speakers or profound teachers,” he said. “I might not measure up in speech, but in knowledge I do, for I know Him.”

2 Corinthians 11:7

The “super apostles” were exceedingly wealthy from the exorbitant speaking fees they charged. Paul, on the other hand, charged nothing. “Is it because I haven’t taken money from you that you esteem me so lightly?” he asks.

2 Corinthians 11:8

“Others were supporting me in the ministry in order that I wouldn’t have to burden you financially,” said Paul.

2 Corinthians 11:10

“I’m going to keep reminding you that I have not taken a penny from you,” said Paul.

2 Corinthians 11:11

“If Paul really loved us, he would charge us,” some were saying. “God knows I love you,” Paul answered.

2 Corinthians 11:12

“I’m not going to charge you,” said Paul. “And I dare these false teachers to follow my lead.” There have been times in this ministry when we didn’t have the money to support the ministers, myself included. And it’s really interesting what happens. Some keep serving, teaching, working, doing whatever they’re called to do. Others fade away. Jesus called them hirelings (Joh_10:12-13). I believe God almost inevitably allows men to be tested in this way, to allow them to see whether what they’re doing is merely a job or truly a calling on their lifesomething they would do whether or not they were financially supported. Although Paul sometimes had support from Macedonia, we know from the Book of Acts that during this time he would support himself by making tents in order that he could teach the Word at nights or in the afternoon. “I know how to abound and how to be abased,” he said (see Php_4:12). “I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been called to do.”

2 Corinthians 11:13

We shouldn’t be surprised when false teachers seem to live so righteously, when their standards seem to be so moral, when they stress the importance of family and separation from the defilement of the world. We shouldn’t be surprised that their TV commercials sound so right and look so warm and fuzzy, nor that their temple in Salt Lake City glows with lightfor Paul says Satan himself transforms into an angel of light. You see, Satan will go either way with people. If people want to be dark and devilish and heavy, he’ll meet them there. But if people want to be exemplary and upstanding, he’ll meet them there. As an angel of light, he’ll say, “You don’t need to admit you’re a sinner and need a Savior. Just live morally.” It’s interesting to me that so many who talk about near-death experiences report seeing a warm, bright light beckoning themthe implication being that if we are “good people,” regardless of the route we choose, we’ll all make it to the bright light at the end of the tunnel. But wait. That bright light may not be the Father of Lights. It may be the one who transforms himself to appear as an angel of light. It might be a train barreling down the track in your direction. Because Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, we should be wary about the conclusions of those who write about such experiences.

2 Corinthians 11:15

“What must we do to do the works of God?” they asked. And Jesus said, “This is the work of Godone thingthat you believe on Him whom the Father hath sent (see Joh_6:28-29). “What must we do to do the works of God?” “Join our temple and be baptized,” the doorknockers say. No. The work of God is singular: It’s simply to believe. He who adds anything to believing on Him whom the Father hath sent is on dangerous ground and will be judged according to their human effortby which they will fail miserably.

2 Corinthians 11:16

“Because you’re questioning my authority as an apostle, I’m going to have to boast,” Paul says. “But don’t blame the Lord for my boasting.” I like that. All too often, the Lord gets blamed for the erratic behavior of those who claim to be controlled by Him. It’s an embarrassment to the Christian community when people do bizarre things in the name of the Lord. Here, Paul seems to go out of his way to do otherwise.

2 Corinthians 11:18

Here, Paul says, “If you who are so wise value fleshly credentials, I’ll give you mine…”

2 Corinthians 11:20

According to rabbinical tradition, it was the right of the teacher to strike the student who didn’t listen to him or agree with him. Consequently, not only were the false teachers laying spiritual and financial burdens on the Corinthiansthey were evidently striking some as well. It’s a real mystery to me why Christians feel blessed when someone screams at them, tells them they’re doing terribly, or burdens them with expectations and pressure. Of Jesus, Isaiah prophesied that He would neither break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax (Isa_42:3). In other words, Jesus is One who uses even the weakest instrument and fans even the faintest flame of any who show an inclination towards Him.

2 Corinthians 11:21

Those who were trying to undo Paul’s ministry were evidently Jewish teachers who said, “Grace lacks substance. There’s more to it than that. You need not only to believe in Jesus, but you must embrace Judaism, legalism, ritualism, and regulations.” There’s a tendency within us to want to live under legalism and ritualism. That’s why Jesus was so radical. He lived as a common Man rather than subscribing to the traditional cleansings and rabbinical rituals. “He’s a glutton and a winebibber,” said His critics. “Look who He hangs out with. Look how He teaches in such simplicity with those little parables.” So, too, the believers in Corinth were being told faith is not that simple. “They talk about being servants of Christ with their Jewish credentials, their rules and ritualsbut I am more,” declared Paul. “I support myself with the work of my own hands.” This speaks of beating. “I’m at the point of death constantly,” Paul declared.

2 Corinthians 11:24

A single beating of thirty-nine lashes was often enough to kill a man. Paul endured such a beating five times.

2 Corinthians 11:25

Even at this point in his ministry, Paul had been beaten, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked. Thus, I am humbled, indeed, when I consider the price our brother Paul paid to be a minister of the gospel.

2 Corinthians 11:26

“All these things are happening to me,” Paul says. “Yet you say I’m weak in comparison to the false teachers in your midst.” Then he gives the clincher…

2 Corinthians 11:28

“That which happens to me externallythe stonings and the beatings, the shipwrecks and the muggingsare beside the point. So I get beat all the time, so people throw rocks at me, so they’re out to kill me constantly, so I’m hungry a lot, cold at night, in jail wherever I gothose things are nothing compared to the concern I have for the churches,” Paul says. This is not the heart of a spiritual guru or a motivational speaker. This is the heart of a father. Dads, you know something of this. As tough as things can be externally, financially, or physicallythey’re nothing compared to the concern you have that your kids do well. I raise this question to you as I do to myself: What made Paul tick? Would you take thirty-nine lashes five times for the people sitting three rows in front of younot for the ones you’re married to or related to, but for the body of Christ in general? I believe Paul gives us three reasons he was the man he was… First, as we’ll see in chapter 12, Paul knew the reality of eternity. Heaven wasn’t just some foggy, fuzzy “pie in the sky in the sweet bye and bye” idea for Paul. He had seen it personally. Has the Lord ever made heaven real to your heart? Has He ever made hell real to your heart? Have you ever just stopped and looked at a crowd of people, your family, or your classmates and thought, My aunt, my neighbor, my friend is going to hell unless they receive the free gift of salvation which God has so generously provided for them? Knowing the reality of heaven, Paul said, “Let them beat me; let them stone me; let them imprison me; let them make fun of me. I know the reality of eternity. So those things don’t bother me.” Second, Paul knew the potency of the gospel. “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,” he declared in Romans 1. Paul knew that the gospel not only is the power by which people will be ushered into heaven eternally, but through which they will be blessed, helped, and saved presently. When people come forward for salvation on Sunday mornings, do I have confidence that the profundity of the words I share with them will see them through? No way. At that point, my stomach is rumbling. I can’t wait for lunch. I’m second-guessing the sermon I just gave. But this I know: Every person who comes will be met by the Lord not because of who I am, but because He is faithful. I know that as sure as I know my name. He will in no wise cast out any who come to Him with any degree of sincerity (Joh_6:37). Such is the potency of the gospel. Third, Paul knew the mystery of God’s mercy. It was the love of Christ that enabled him to absorb the beatings, put up with the prisons, and care about the people (2Co_5:14). “I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, an enemy of those who named the name of Christ. But the Lord stopped me in my tracks, knocked me to the ground, and called out to me.” Paul did what he did because he realized how merciful the Lord had been in saving him, in using him. So, too, I believe that to the degree to which we understand the reality of eternity, the potency of the gospel, and the mystery of God’s mercy is the degree to which, like Paul, we will say, “I’m going for it recklessly, wholeheartedly, whatever the cost might be.” How does one understand these things? I suggest a simple secretnot easy, but simple. That is, compassion is the result of contemplation. It was as Jesus sat on the hillside and looked at the city that He wept with compassion (Luk_19:41). So, too, it is in our own times of contemplationwhen we quietly consider the plight of the people in the car next to us as we drive on the freeway, or the destiny of the person ahead of us in line at the supermarketthat the Lord can begin to work within us a heart of compassion. That is why consistent devotional times are so important. They’re not to earn brownie points with God. He already loves us completely. But if we fail to stop and sit, to think and pray, to listen and worship, our eyes get dry and our hearts become callused.

2 Corinthians 11:29

“When you’re hurting, I hurt. If someone trips you up in your walk, I’m angry with that person,” Paul said with the heart of a father, the heart of a mature believer.

2 Corinthians 11:30

“If you’re not satisfied by what I’ve gone through on your behalf, the generosity I’ve shown you, the jealousy I have for youif you’re still asking me to prove my authority,” Paul says, “I will continue…” Paul does not point to a university degree as his authority for ministry. He points to his greatest difficulty, for it proved to be his greatest glory.

2 Corinthians 11:31

We find the story to which Paul alludes in Acts 9… As he headed toward Damascus in order to persecute Christians, the Lord confronted Paul, and he was converted immediately. Shortly thereafter, God said of him, “He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Act_9:15). In other words, God said, “Paul will talk to kings and impact some Jews. But he’ll be a minister to Me among the Gentiles.” Yet such a heart did Paul have for the Jews that he said he would be damned for their sake if it meant they would be saved (Rom_9:3). So he headed straight for the synagogues, as if to say, “I can do You a whole lot of good, Lord. I was trained to be a Pharisee. I know how they think.” And it made sense logically. Paul seemed to have the gifts, the background, and the testimony to impact the Jews radically. But they didn’t buy what he was saying, so he left Damascus and spent three years in the Arabian wilderness being tutored by Jesus Himself (Gal_1:17). Then he headed once again to the Jews. He proved to them biblically and persuasively that Jesus is, indeed, the Christ. The result? They wanted to kill him (Act_9:23). And his heart must have sunk. He went to Jerusalem next. And when he got there, heartsick, let down, wondering what was happening, he joined himself to the disciples. But even they were afraid of him, so he spoke boldly to the Greciansthose Jews who had adopted Gentile customsas if to compromise with the Lord. What did they do? They decided to kill him (Act_9:29). At this point, the believers sent him out of the country. He went to Tarsus for seven to ten years, where he ministered in obscurity. But the Lord had plans for Paul. Barnabas sought him out, saying, “Let’s go minister in the north to the Gentiles.” “Great!” said Paul. When at last he began ministering to those he was supposed to, the world was turned upside down, and the fruit remains to this day. That is why he said, “I’m going to glory in what was the hardest thing in my lifewhen I was let down, when things weren’t working out, when I was wondering where the Lord was. The greatest glory in my whole life was when the doors I thought would open up were shut tightbecause it was then that God had His way.” “Use me, Lord,” we cry. “I would make such a great worship leader.” Yet as the weeks turn into months and the months into years, we wonder, What’s happening? “Don’t worry,” Paul would say to us. “I look back now and see that the day I was denied the ministry in which I thought I would do so well was the most important turning point in my life outside of my salvation.” If you’re let down, understand that time will always prove the Lord to be right. That is why Paul could say, “If I must glory, I glory in the biggest disappointment of my life. Yes, I was heartsick at the time, but now I see the incredible wisdom of God.”