2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Vs. 16-21a

2 Corinthians 11:16 “16 I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.”

Paul has been defending himself against the accusations of these false Apostles

And Paul doesn’t want to be thought of as a fool…

What Paul is doing is putting into practice 2 different Proverbs

Proverbs 26:4–5 “4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”

On the one hand, Paul is nothing like the those fools - those false Apostles who would speak against him and seek to undercut his ministry. And he is not going to condescend to their level and play their game - a losing game.

On the other hand, in order to not just clear his name, but to honor the name of Christ - he says, let’s play their game and let me show you who wins.

“If we’re going to play “Who’s the biggest fool?” I can guarantee that I would win.

2 Corinthians 11:17 “17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool.”

In other words, this line of reasoning that the fools continue to use is not how Christ would have us carry ourselves.

2 Corinthians 11:18 “18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast.”

But in order to once and for all put them to silence, I will play their game.

If there was something of value in our flesh, let’s compare the flesh.

This is a competition of seeing who can spit the furthest into the wind…

No one is coming out clean…

2 Corinthians 11:19 “19 For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves!”

You have heard these false Apostles and you’ve engaged with them. So let’s hear it from my mouth and see if the argument still stands

2 Corinthians 11:20 “20 For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.”

The irony of this whole ordeal is that what you have decided to hear out and to give airtime to is the very thing that:

Makes slaves of you

How did they do this? By trying to make them again become Jews in order to become Christian - circumcision - adherence to the Law of God in order to BECOME a Christian - legalism

Devours you

Luke 20:46–47 “46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.””

The irony here is that that you put up with these types of people who take advantage of you financially - they demand you give them all that you have in order to line their pockets

Sound like TV preachers today?

Take advantage of you

Puts on airs

Exalts themselves - they are not making much of the Lord - but of themselves and of their accomplishments

Strikes you in the face (getting hit in the face and saying, “thank you, I’ll have another.”

“Such was the treatment to which the Corinthians submitted from the hands of the false teachers; and such is ever the tendency of unscriptural church-authority. It assumes an absolute dependence of the people on the clergy-an inherent, as well as official superiority of the latter over the former, and therefore false teachers have, as a general rule, been tyrants. The gospel, and of course the evangelical, as opposed to the high-church system of doctrine, is incompatible with all undue authority, because it teaches the essential equality of believers and opens the way to grace and salvation to the people without the intervention of a priest.” - Charles Hodge

2 Corinthians 11:21 “21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!…”

Paul says - tongue in cheek or sarcastically - we were too weak to act this way toward you

We didn’t exalt ourselves - we were too lowly

We did take advantage of you, we didn’t strike you in the face - we didn’t make slaves of you - we were too weak….

21b - 29,32-33 (Now the game is afoot)

2 Corinthians 11:21 “21 … But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.”

Let’s compare foolish things…

Isaiah 64:6 “6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment (filthy rags). We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

***This imagery is much stronger than simply dirty washcloths that need to be washed - it is Isaiah talking about being ceremonially unclean because a woman has reached a certain point in her menstrual cycle. These filthy rags are menstrual cloths.

I realize this is course language, but Isaiah is saying that that imagery accurately describes our righteousness - our good deeds - the things in our flesh that we attempt to boast in…

And I think Paul has this type of idea in mind when he says in 2 Corinthians 11:21 “21… But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.”

Let’s dig through our garbage containers and let’s compare trash...

Because that’s exactly what we’re comparing

2 Corinthians 11:22 “22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.”

Let’s first compare our family trees.

Let’s do 23 and me or ancestry.com

Let’s compare our pedigree and see who wins this round…

You want to compare descent - I’m going to win this round

2 Corinthians 11:23 “23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.”

Again, he’s not saying this to puff himself up - he’s certainly not saying that he and his opposition are both servants of Christ, he’s just a better one

2 Corinthians 11:13–15 “13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”

No, he’s saying, if we’re playing this game, they lose at being servants of Christ too. I’m a better one.

And just so the readers of the letter don’t get it mixed up in their minds and fall into the wrong idea he reminds them - I’m talking like a fool

But what is it that Paul is actually boasting in?

It’s not what most people would boast in

Far more imprisonments

countless beatings

often near death

You want to boast - let’s go for it - how many times have you almost died?

2 Corinthians 11:24–25 “24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;”

Deuteronomy 25:3 “3 Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.”

5x beaten at the hands of the Jews

3x beaten with rods

1x I was stoned

Acts 14:19 “19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.”

3x shipwrecked

2 Corinthians 11:26–27 “26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

This completes the picture. The greatest of the apostles here appears before us, his back lacerated by frequent Scourgings, his body worn by hunger, thirst, and exposure; cold and naked, persecuted by Jews and Gentiles, driven from place to place without any certain dwelling. This passage, more perhaps than any other, makes even the most laborious of the modern ministers of Christ hide their face in shame. What have they ever done or suffered to compare with what this apostle did?

2 Corinthians 11:28 “28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”

On top of everything that he has just mentioned - all of the physical toll that these things take, let’s also remind you that I have to write this letter because of you knuckleheads….

Paul constantly has the heavy responsibility at the forefront of his mind to take care of all the church plants that he has - and think of everything Paul must have had on his mind just in this one letter to the church at Corinth…

And it’s not just the church as a whole…

2 Corinthians 11:29 “29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?”

In other words, who hurts in the church and I don’t hurt with them?

Who weeps and I don’t weep?

Who mourns and I don’t mourn?

Who suffers and I don’t suffer with them?

And who is caused to sin, and I am not indignant?

Or now I’m turning my anger specifically at those that enjoy this little game that we’re playing...

They cause you to sin and it makes me furious - because I love you and I care for you

They are preaching to you a gospel not in accord with what I have taught you and do you think that affects me? Absolutely it does!

We’ve played the game - now who can stand with what I’ve got to offer?

No one.

___________

Add in vs. 32-33

2 Corinthians 11:32–33 “32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.”

Vs. 30-31

2 Corinthians 11:30 “30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”

This is the summary of what Paul has just done. He’s not boasting in the things that others would boast in - not in what the world finds worthy of admiration, but in the things that show his weakness

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 “9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

This is where Paul is going

Where am I going to boast?

In the things that show my weaknesses because they force me to look to Christ and his strength.

When we boast in our accomplishments it gives us the false sense that we are something…

that our trash is actually worth something…

But the reality is, it’s just filthy rags

2 Corinthians 11:31 “31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.”

Now you may want to judge me and say this is all show, but I know when I stand before God, I will be vindicated because The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ knows my heart. He knows that I am not lying.

This isn’t self-deprication…

This is a right view of ourselves before a holy God

This is a right accounting of our lives before the to whom we must give an account

Comparing trash can skew our thoughts to think that we actually have accomplished something in our lives - and in turn to think that we are owed something…

But to rightly see our lives before God as weakness… as helpless

It elevates our view of God who sent his only Son to redeem us

So that in our weakness, he is strong

We are feeble, but he is mighty

We are sinful but he is perfect

We have been made low, but he has been lifted high

This is the God that we serve