Contrast Between True and False
A Contrast between the False and the True
2 Corinthians 11:16-30
Introduction:
Paul is still defending himself against those that lifted themselves up and put him down.
In verse 16 we see that Paul is not pleased with having to lift himself up. He does not want to brag on himself, he prefers to brag on Christ.
Yet evidently many of the “super apostles” had come in and lifted up all of the wonderful things they were doing and people began to follow them. Paul felt that it was then necessary to lift up some of his own characteristics.
*Ordinarily Paul was a very humble man, it must have been hard to him to do this. See in vv. 16-19, as well as back in verse 1
In this passage we will see a contrast between what is false and what is true
1. The heart of the false teachers contrasted with
2. The heart of a true servant
I. The heart of the false teachers v. 20
Can be easily summed up: The heart of a false teacher focuses on himself!!
Seen in the “fruit” of his ministry
1. Brings people into bondage
Gal. 2:4 also warns of false teachers who take away the freedom in Christ and bring people into bondage.
Bondage = enslavement.
False teachers were enslaving people with their teachings or dogmas
Set up a list of does and don’ts that controlled every aspect of people’s lives
Caused people to live in fear of not being able to keep the “rules”
*Pharisees were good at doing this
Jesus came to set people free, there is liberty or freedom in Christ
The Christian life is not about a list of dos and don’ts; it is about a relationship with God through Jesus Christ
Religion today puts people into bondage: Puts people in fear of not being good enough—always fearing failure
2. Devours v. 20
They devour people’s property
Pharisees in Matthew were said to devour widow’s homes
False teachers often take advantage of people
*Play on people’s fears and concerns: Much like a politician trying to get votes
*”If you do not buy enough pledge cards then you departed loved one may not get to heaven.”
*”If you do not follow this list of dos and don’ts then God will be sorely displeased with you.”
3. Takes from others v.20
This means more than to take from, it means to take you, to seize you and make you his captive
Has the idea of “to catch”
Many today are “controlled” by those who are false teachers. Everything they do revolves around what this person wants and says.
Paul never encouraged anyone to follow him, only to the point that he followed Christ. He encouraged the Corinthians in his first letter not to follow a man, but to follow Christ.
4. Exalts himself v. 20
False teachers tend to lift up themselves, it is all about me, myself, and I
Everything that they do is to lift them up and make them feel/appear important, they have an attitude of superiority.
If something works it is because of them, if something does not work it is because of someone else.
Jesus was all about others, Paul’s ministry was all about others
5. Strikes others in the face
Striking on the face is one of the greatest forms of insult
Idea is that they have no real concern for other people
Often while claiming to care for the spiritual well being of others, false teachers put their followers down.
II. The heart of a true servant vv. 21-31
Can easily be summed up: The heart of a true servant focuses on others!!
1. Does not lift himself up
This may seem like an odd point, Paul is in the process of lifting himself up. He is going to “brag” about his ancestry, his suffering, etc.
Yet note his attitude in doing so:
V. 1 “Bear with a little foolishness….”
V. 11 “You can put up with a little foolishness….”
Vv. 16-18 He felt foolish for his boasting
Paul did not enjoy lifting himself up, he did not enjoy talking about himself. What he enjoyed was talking about others and particularly Christ
You can tell a lot about a person by what is the center of their conversation. To many people it is themselves.
*Illustration: Ever say to someone, “I really hurt myself last night when I stubbed my big toe!” and have the response be, “Well I broke my toe once and it took three months to heal, and then I….”
The same is true with a person’s preaching and teaching. I have listened to Pastors and teachers who main point was how good they are and what they have done.
That was not so with Paul. Even as he shared his qualifications and genuine-ness as a minister he was not comfortable with it.
2. Is willing to sacrifice
Illustration about traveling evangelist
One preacher said, "When I first started in the ministry I thought I would like to be a traveling evangelist. In my first year, I preached a two-week revival meeting at one church. The host preacher thought it would be a good idea for me to get acquainted with people by staying in a different home every night, so I had to live out of a suitcase.
He said, "I would eat three meals at three different homes every day. I stayed at homes where I slept on the couch and had no privacy. I stayed in homes that didn’t even have inside plumbing. One night before I went to bed, I told my host that I needed to use the bathroom. The guy grabbed a flashlight, went out on the back porch, and shined the light down a path. He waited on the porch while I kept walking and walking. Finally, he said, ‘ANY PLACE OUT THERE WILL BE OKAY!’"
That preacher said, "About that time I decided I didn’t want to be a traveling evangelist."
Paul was willing to make great sacrifices to serve the Lord
þ 5 times I received 40 stripes minus 1
To break the law required 40 lashes, but if for some reason the one doing the lashing gave more than 40 he was required to be given 40 lashes, so often they would only give 39
This whipping was to the point of death. The law said that if the man being whipped died the one doing the whipping would not be changed with his death.
Paul had been brought to the point of death 5 times
A description of this punishment given:
“The two hands of the criminal are bound to a post, and then the servant of the synagogue either pulls or tears off his clothes till he leaves his breast and shoulders bare. A stone or block is placed behind him on which the servant stands; he holds in his hands a scourge made of leather, divided into four tails. He who scourges lays one third on the criminal’s breast, another third on his right shoulder, and another on his left. The man who receives the punishment is neither sitting nor standing, but all the while stooping; and the man smites with all his strength, with one hand.” The severity of this punishment depends on the nature of the scourge, and the strength of the executioner.
þ Three times I was beaten with rods
Another Jewish form of punishment
þ Once I was stoned
Not with drugs or alcohol but with actual stones
Paul was stoned in the city of Lystra where the mob dragged him out of the city and left him for dead
þ Three times I was shipwrecked etc. vv. 25-27
As we read this list we must ask ourselves, “What have I endured for Christ’s sake?”
A true servant of Jesus Christ is willing to make sacrifices, while the false teachers were not.
As a rule today in Churches we do not ask people to sacrifice. We do everything to make them comfortable.
J.H. Goldner wrote: In 1926
The prevailing tendency in the present-day church is to make religion too easy. It is kept within the realm of convenience and comfort. Rarely is there a call for real sacrifice. By means of suppers and sales people are tricked into giving. Through entertainments and other alluring programs an effort is made to inject a little religion into the unsuspecting. And when people have come into the church the greatest care is exercised to spare them, so that only a minimum of anything is asked of them."
3. Rejoices in weakness and infirmity vv. 29-30
Paul says that if he is going to boast about anything it is his weakness and the times that it seemed that he had failed
Illustration: Damascus
While many may have been boasting in their great accomplishments, Paul was boasting in the times that he was weak, and the times in which he failed.
Why is that?
It was those times that caused the strength and working to God to be clearly seen.
Paul did not want to be introduced as a great speaker, or a man who had done much for the cause of Christ. He wanted to be a man through who Christ was seen more than anything else.
“He must increase and I must decrease was Paul’s attitude.”