Deception is always Disguised
The last time we left off with three sets of questions to discern from whom, we are seeking Commendation in chapter 10, Paul wraps up with the phrase, the the verse, let them let him who boasts boast in the Lord. In chapter 10, verses 17 and 18. And so, we have three questions last week to discern. What are we seeking affirmation from others? Are we seeking affirmation from goals? Are achieved mints? Are we seeking Commendation from things other than cry until the third question of the three that we didn't get to last week? Because I had another crack at it. This week is to review. Point number three is verses 13 through 16 chapter 10. And the question, is this Jesus? How can I be diligent in the area that you have assigned to me? How can I be diligent in the area? You have assigned to me? Look back with me at 10:13 through 16. The Apostle Paul says, but we will not boast Beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence, God has assigned to us to reach even to you. And then, in verse 14, for, we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast Beyond limits in the labor of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence, among you may be greatly enlarged. So that we may preach the gospel in Lands Beyond you without boasting of work already done in another area of influence and then verse 17. Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord for it is not the one who convinced himself he was approved but the one whom the Lord commands What the Apostle Paul is saying here, is he saying we won't boast about someone else's work and take credit for it. He wants to go where others have not heard of Christ in the Book of Romans. He prefers to going in the future, going to Spain and heat. Al wants to ends up going to Rome and so acts. 20:24 Paul says this, I do not account my life as precious to myself. If only, I may finish my course. And the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God, talk about a life goal. That is a singular life goal. He says I am not I am not accumulating value counting my own life precious according to the criteria of the world. But I have my if if only the only value of my life is that I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Brothers and sisters. Don't we? Waste precious time. Debating about who is taking credit for this or that or thinking ourselves out of opportunities in Ministry? It's it sometimes it's it's a challenge to have one person take on a particular Ministry and then they move on to something else and you're trying to get another person to move into that Ministry. And I've heard people say that more than well. Usually the first thing people say is I don't have the time. You can just, you can just count that that's the first answer. That anybody's going to give as far as, you know, volunteering for something or asking to serve in some way. That's the first answer for the second. Most common answer is this. I don't know if I can do as good a job at that person.
Well, maybe there's some humility there, but the Apostle Paul is saying, we're only going to concentrate on the the area of work that God has assigned to us. We're not going to out-think ourselves out of something because we're comparing ourselves to others. Paul singular aim was to share Christ and so friends at the judgement seat of Christ, art Treasures, whatever we have accumulated our Treasures on Earth will turn to ashes. That was a line in a song, a worship song that I was listening to recently. It said, In The Light Of You Lord, in the light of your Holiness, our Treasures will turn to ashes. And so Jesus says store up Treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy. And so, it came to me and thinking about this idea that Paul is not, he's not wanting to take credit for others work, but he's reading passage into the Corinthians. Hey, we began with you. We shared the gospel with you, me and my companions. We found at the church in Corinth. We're not going to boast about what somebody else is doing over here. But we want to make sure that the gospel Goes Forth from from you.
And it it brought to mind. This question, do we spend as Christians do, we spend more time? Talking about what Jesus says to do, rather than actually obeying and living out what Jesus says to do. You can imagine the sophists or the false teachers in Corinth saying, well, we need a letter of recommendation from from this Paul, who's coming in in chapters, 1 & 2. He refers to that. Or they can say something like, well, we know, we need to make sure what his credentials are in all of this brothers and sisters do we waste precious time, debating and talking about what Jesus says to do, rather than actually obeying and living out what Jesus says to do. I mean, there's the wwjd bracelet. What would Jesus do? And then there's the D wjw, do what Jesus would. And so we shouldn't out. Think ourselves out of opportunities. We might say, I can't share the gospel. I'm not a Paul. I'm not a minister. I don't have that gift 2nd. Corinthians chapter 5 says we are ambassadors for Christ. God. Making his appeal through us. And you and I are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us to other people, we have this treasure in Jars of Clay. Why to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us a man So God has chosen weak fragile vessels. In order to display his eternal and surpassing Power. You might say, why don't know what to say? I don't have all the answers friends. No one has all the answers, but Christ will speak through you when you are faithful to share his word. And so brothers and sisters, the stakes are high eternity is at the door. There is a mindset in our culture. When it when the word karma is used, commonly in commercials, you realize that there is a Buddhist or Hindu view worldview, that is being promoted. That the universe is just going through these endless cycles and and when you die, then you're just recycle. That's something else. I mean it you know, you go back to the Lion King, you know, the circle of life. You know what? All of that no history is linear. History is on a way to God's Eternal perfect. Destiny was reading a book on evangelism recently end. Many years ago was the four spiritual laws will. This guy gave his own Four Points of sharing the gospel. He said, holy God, sinful man. Perfect Savior. And eternal destiny, Holy God, sinful man, perfect savior, Eternal Destiny. He said, whenever I talk with someone about faith, I try to get across those four points.
Now there is innocence The Book of Ecclesiastes Solomon says, you know, there's nothing new Under the Sun, you know, the sins that one generation commits 10 to get recycled over time. We just find out different ways of of sinning, but history is moving towards God's appointed End. Amen.
That is one of the bedrocks of our faith that God is Sovereign and moving history to his appointed ends. And so, the stakes are high. Eternity is at the door.
And so in chapter 11, Paul makes clear that the stakes are high by saying, Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of Light. And so, the title of the message which did Daniel came up with a nice graphic, there that gets across this idea of deception, deception is always disguised in Acts chapter 20. Paul talks to the Ephesian elders, and he says, there will be wolves that will come up from among you. From your own mixed from your own church. There will be those who will come up from among you seeking to deceive. And so deception is always disguise. Listen to this description of Paul's opponents I found this commentary very helpful. He says, Paul Saga with the church at Corinth, have been Complicated by the fact that they had bought into the message and the style of the part Christian part Jewish part sophist. Greek philosophy, Journeymen who had come flying their half-baked teaching after Paul had left. Deception is always a mix of ideas that have enough truth to make us think that it's real. Aristotle, hundreds of years. Before Jesus wrote this about the sofas that the sofas are the fancy philosophers. That had a reputation in ancient Greece and in the first century. Aristotle said this, he said there is a difficulty raised by the argument of the sophists. Now, I'm sure you can relate to this. If you've ever been in an argument with someone and you get trapped, he says the sofas wish to show their cleverness by in trapping their adversary into a paradox. And when they are successful, the chain of reasoning ends in a deadlock, the mind is fettered being unwilling to stand still because it cannot approve the conclusion. That is reached yet unable to go forward because it cannot untie the knot of the argument. He said the sofas were clever, philosophies philosophers. And when they got you in a, in a, in a trap of reasoning, your mine says Boyd. I don't I can't stand still because I don't want, I don't want to agree with their conclusion, but I can't move forward because I don't know how to answer the argument that they use to get to that conclusion. And so these were the kind of philosophers that Paul was facing. They had taken issue with his method of not charging for his preaching. They had criticised his lack of rhetorical skill, his lack of Elegance at eloquence. Excuse me, they had charged him with a lack of Integrity because he changed his plans to visit them. They were claiming their own Revelations and Authority, Superior to Paul and his own experience and the false teachers promoted, a worldly wisdom which made light of Paul's suffering. In a sense, denying the fact that we follow a savior who suffered. Amen. We follow a savior who suffered, if we suffer with him, we will be glorified with him. The book of Romans says, and so he had already addressed the wisdom issue in 1st Corinthians and we don't have time to review all of that. But in First Corinthians chapter 2, I'll just read this one section that really summarizes how Paul had already addressed the sophists in Corinth. 1st Corinthians chapter 2.
He's addressing the church in Corinth. Again, ancient Greece Corinth is right on that little strip of land that Isthmus between two other sections.
And I when I came to you brothers did not come proclaiming to you. The testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know. Nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified, and I was with you and weakness and in fear and much trembling. and my speech and my message, we're not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit, and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God,
In 2nd Timothy. Think of the generations before Timothy Paul refers to Timothy's mother and grandmother. Lois and Eunice. What did Louis the grandmother want her daughter? Eunice to learn? That her face might not rest on man's Wisdom, but on the power of God and what did Louis, what did Eunice want Timothy to learn? As her son First Corinthians 2:5 that his face might not rest on man's Wisdom, but on the power of God, And those of us who were older can testify to this to you young people. When you go off to school, when you go off to a new environment, you will face the question of all kinds of areas of life. Does your face do, does what you believe? Not only spiritually, but about other things to does it rest on human wisdom or does it rest on God? we face that question every day, every day, now, Paul and gauges in this irony and there's three warnings here in chapter 11 that that I think we need to pay attention to And so he's engaging in an irony and exaggeration and an in Greek rhetoric. It's known as a Sim. Chris's Sim Chris's up comparison for the sake of argument. And so some of us might be familiar with Proverbs 26 4 and 5, don't answer a fool according to his folly. Otherwise you become a fool to yourself for yourself and then the next verse says, answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. That's the way Proverbs is, you always read them in Hugo?
What does that mean? It means don't answer a fool on the same level as a fool otherwise you become foolish. Also instead answer a fool by confronting the issue directly. Otherwise he will think himself wise. So here's a simple illustration lot of parent-child illustrations this week. If a child mocks a parent and says something goofy, like smelly face. The parent has a choice. If the parent says smelly face back, then the parent is answering a fool according to their Folly and becomes a fool themselves. but instead, if the parent says that's not a nice thing to say, we don't say that you should save this instead The parent is confronting the issue directly and not endorsing the child's desire for recognition or attention or whatever it might be. So Paul is answering his opponents using their same methods in the hopes that the Corinthians will see the sufficiency of Christ and the genuineness of Paul's love. And a letter chapters 11 and 12 in 2nd. Corinthians are full of the irony and the end a bit of humor and a bit of an exaggeration on Paul's behalf. Because he's sick, he's saying, look, I'm trying to answer some rhetoric that might get your attention.
And so here's the first warning in verses 1 through 4, our thoughts can gradually be corrupted away from Devotion to Christ. Look at chapter 11 verses one through four. Again, I feel a Divine jealousy for you since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. You collectively, you Corinthian Church. We are the bride of Christ. The scripture says But I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, that word, cunning means, craftiness or trickery. Your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
If you receive a different Spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one, you accepted you put up with it readily enough.
Our thoughts can be corrupted gradually. That's the first warning away from Devotion to Christ. How did the serpent deceived Eve? By creating doubt. In her mind. Did God really say? You may not eat from this tree.
Did God really say that? Oh no, you won't die. You will become like God knowing good and evil. It was an alluring promise and send always presents a false promise of pleasure or selfish gain without consequence.
Send always promises a false promises, something false that involves pleasure, or selfish gain without consequence.
Our thoughts can be corrupted gradually away from Devotion to Christ. Now, if you read the rest of the New Testament, Galatians what was the other gospel? That the opponents of the judaizers, were promoting in galatia? It was that you had to add to Jesus. You had to add the law of circumcision. You had to follow the regulations of Moses to truly be a follower And Paul says no, that's another gospel, that's an ass, if anyone preaches another gospel, let him be accursed Galatians. Chapter 1? Where in Colossians? Another Spirit the gnostics in colossi had this fancy philosophy sort of a mix of Greek philosophy and Judaism. Don't you know? That there is more than Jesus, there are other Spiritual Beings their Visions, there's worship of angels, there's elements of the universe.
No, did people in those churches wake up one day and think I'm going to devote myself to a false gospel another Spirit today. Know how does it happen? It happens gradually, it happens with influence. It happens with maybe Satan taking advantage of our curiosity. And when we are LED away and enticed by our own evil desire, the Book of James says sin gives birth to death.
It's unlikely that they got there. All at once but rather bit-by-bit going a little further down the path of corruption. So that's the first warning that are our thoughts. Can be corrupted gradually away from Devotion to Christ The second warning is this. And it has to do with suspicions related to money. The second warning in verses 5 through 12 is that our minds and thoughts can quickly become suspicious related to money, which taints our hearts
You know, one, one issue that you can ask yourself one question that you can ask yourself in regards to how much peace you have in your life. Peace with God. Peace with other people peace in the community is how quickly do I become suspicious. How quickly do I become cynical? If you become cynical and suspicious pretty quickly, that may be an indication that you don't have the piece that God wants you to have. Now, I'm not talking about just, you know, going along naively and being led down the Primrose path.
So what Paul is Adventure emphasizing in these verses, is that when it comes to finances, I am not working among you on the same terms as these false teachers. What was Paul's method? I'm not burdening you verse 9 and when I was with you and was indeed, I did not burn anyone for the brothers who came from Macedonia, supplied my need So his method was to ask for support from churches, but not while he was preaching the gospel among them. He writes to the Philippians and he says I received the gift that you sent God supplied my needs through you but he made a living for himself as a tentmaker. The book of Acts tells us a leatherworker that he was, he was supporting himself while he was sharing the gospel with them. and the false teachers their method was to put emphasis and credibility on the remuneration received for teaching
There was an emphasis on being paid for one's teaching and that led to a belief that Paul's critics felt he didn't have much to say, a people weren't paying him or Paul's critics convince people in the Corinthian Church that Paul wasn't asking for money for his preaching. So he must be having some must be coming up with some other clever way to extract money from them after he left. Maybe that offering for the Saints in Jerusalem that he's asking for maybe Paul's going to take a cut of that. That was their kind of Suspicion. And first 11 Paul says, why do I strive? Why do I strive and do all this? Because I do not love you. God knows I do.
Of course not. Do I strive and working labor among you because I don't love you. No, of course not. God knows. I love you. You can imagine today on Mother's Day brothers and sisters since it is Mother's Day and dedicated mother saying the same kind of thing to people in her family. Who might criticize her unfairly Dua plans. Do I make plans for haircuts? Do I make plans for doctor's appointments? Do I go grocery shopping and fill out permission forms? Because I don't love you. God knows I love you. Can't you imagine a mother saying that kind of thing? She's saying of course I love you. So, give Mom the credit they deserve today.
but that's the kind of emphasis and exaggeration Paul is going to he sang Take a look here. Does all of this show that I don't love, you know. It shows that I do love you. so we need to guard our hearts when it comes to finances because we can easily become sinfully suspicious Now, the third warning is the most direct. And he names not by name but he calls them. False Apostles 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 him themselves as Servants of righteousness, their end will correspond to their deeds. All of them will have to answer to Christ. And the third warning is this, that false teachers are often disguised as Servants of righteousness.
Now, the argument here is from the greater to the Lesser, you have different ways of of argument, you have Jesus telling Parables where he says, look at the flowers of the field. Look at the birds of the air. Look at how God takes care of them. Look at how beautiful they are. How much more does your heavenly father? Desire to give you a good gifts. How much more does your heavenly father? Take care of you. So that's an argument from the Lesser to the greater here. Always arguing from the greater to the Lesser. He's saying Satan disguises himself as an angel of Light and if Satan does that, no wonder that the false teachers do these false apostles
Now, let me give him a couple examples that will probably rattle your cage a little bit. But they are current.
Since I went to Uganda, in January, I followed the BBC website because they have an Africa news news page that I've been reading through just to get updates on the Congo and Uganda and Rwanda, and different things. Well, here's an article that came up on the Africa News, BBC Africa, news polygamy, and pageantry on display at a mass wedding in South Africa. The bride Evelyn Sparkle and why does she walk down the aisle hand-in-hand with Shirley who is about to become her sister wife and a mass wedding celebration at a South African church? That encourages polygamy Behind them. Came the groom, mr. Malala. Who was marrying? Another wife at the elaborate ceremony of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church? The bridal party was among 55 marriages, that took place there on Easter Sunday. Only seven of the unions were welcoming an extra wife to the family, but all were open to doing so in the future. Shirley who is Mister Molalla. Second wife said, I love polygamy because it is rooted in Biblical teaching. A reference to the Old Testament. Passage in the Bible Old Testament passages. Now. You think? Well, that's really weird.
but look at listen to how it's disguised as Righteousness beforehand. Before the ceremony Church officials had checked the outfits of the gate to make sure everyone in attendance was suitably dressed, no skimpy outfits, no bare. Arms are trousers allowed for women who also had to cover their heads and with jackets prescribed for men, the church has a strict, moral code, men and women sit separately inside the auditorium during ordinary services, and dating is not allowed.
Says Mr. Molalla, I only learned about polygamy when I joined the church and was taught that simply dating, a woman was not allowed, so because I realized that one woman would not be enough for me. I felt that rather than cheat. Let me get another wife.
He married his first wife in 1991, six years after joining the church, she was also a member and important factor for those looking to take a spouse and the church explicitly, forbids marriages to Outsiders.
and then,
To top it off those who are preparing for marriage must first. Get tested for HIV. The church had a wake-up call and was a big problem with the AIDS epidemic. And so the couple must tell each other the results and then decide whether to continue and the church keeps a record on file.
Now. That's an example of Satan disguising himself. As an angel of Light. What? We're promoting marriage? That could be a good thing. I mean we have the strict moral code within the church. You have to marry someone from from the church can't marry Outsiders.
But it doesn't agree with what Jesus says for this reason. A man will leave his father and mother and will be United to his wife singular and the two will become one flesh. Have you not heard? This is the way God made it from the beginning. Now, there's other stuff in there that really.
Makes it obvious that. Their string from Biblical teaching. But their, their Pastor is known as the comforter ushered in along with his family by a marching band Horse Parade in a series of luxury Vehicles. Among them. A bid night. Sapphire Rolls Royce.
No.
This isn't some church that's you know, operating with 1015 people, this is a church of thousands of people.
Here's one more close to home in America. This woman writes when a friend and I took a walk after church, she told me about a new job that she had landed at a prestigious company. She said I give all glory to God. This friend had recently, come to faith in Christ and she join my small group in the fall of 2020. When we we began praying for a new job opportunity for her, Her friend added. I give all glory to God. I had nothing to do with manifesting it. Manifesting it noticed that word, what's manifesting? I asked you've never heard of manifestation, she said a little astonished when I Googled it later to understand the origins. The first article appeared on Oprah daily, it tells me manifestation has to do with the wildly best selling book of 2006 called The Secret it has to do with the phenomena of making everything you want to feel and experience a reality via your thoughts actions beliefs and emotions, Manifestation, in other words is the very opposite of receiving your life, from God. It's receiving your life from the universe in the measure that you have attracted yourself to it. Buy focus by hard work and attention intention. According to the article, you can embrace one method of productive manifestation in which you write down what you want. In the following pattern 3 times in the morning, six times in the afternoon and nine times at night for 33 to 45 days.
Only in our modern technological world. Can we presume Godlike powers for achieving ends? Surely a hundred years ago before the invention of antibiotics and insulin. And vaccines, we held fewer Illusions about the realities that we could and could not control.
She says it is an act of resistance today.
To consider not that were manifesting our lives, but that were receiving them, as a gift. Meaning its countercultural today to think that everything that we have in life is a gift from a gracious. God all good, and perfect gifts, come from above from the Father of Lights, who does not change with shifting Shadows. the Book of James tells us, Receiving life is a gift is of course the message of Genesis in the heartbeat of the gospel God makes God creates God. Gives this world ordered as it is by the sun. In the moon, the day and the night is our inheritance. God gave us his only son in time that we might have life.
We don't manifest things, we receive things. Now, you can try to use the word manifest and, and mix it with faith somehow. And and talk about, you know, if you have, if you believe that you can receive it or, you know, where Jesus says will ask for whatever you did, you desire. Ask God and he will give it to you. There's many promises about prayer. But any answer to prayer is always received. It's not dictated, it's not demanded, it's not manifested. I mean, I noticed how popular this was when I watch some NBA highlights, the other day and end of the player that made the game-winning shot. He said, oh yeah, it just I just manifested it and it came to be
Satan disguises himself as an angel of Light. And so, Paul is warning. The church don't be don't let your thoughts be corrupted bit by bit don't become suspicious. When it comes to finances. And thirdly. Beware of false apostles who disguise themselves as Servants of righteousness. Let's pray.
