2 Corinthians 11 (4)

Pray Psalm 52.8, 9.
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
I will praise You forever,
Because You have done it;
And in the presence of Your saints
I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

Sing Psalm 52.8, 9.
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
But as for me may I be seen in God an olive ever green!
Ever in God, most kind and just, shall I with joy and gladness trust!

Thanks evermore to our Savior be raised! His faithfulness be ever praised!
Here with Your people, loving God, I wait upon Your Name, so good!

Read 2 Corinthians 11.1-15; meditate on verses 12-15.

Preparation
1. How can we identify false apostles?

2. Whom do they serve?

Meditation
False apostles were continuing their self-serving ministries in Corinth, and Paul felt the need to expose them for what they really were.

We can know false apostles by their penchant for drawing attention to themselves and exulting in their identity with this or that great teacher or theologian or Jesus (v. 12; cf, 1 Cor. 1.12). True apostles don’t need such boasting, for their lives declare that they are true followers of Jesus, and that the truth of Jesus is in them (2 Cor. 11.10).

False teachers want to be thought of as true Christians, but they are “deceitful workers”, leading the people of God astray. Their deceitfulness takes different forms in different ages, but their deceitfulness lies in encouraging people to follow them or their camp or school or tradition rather than the Scriptures alone. Anyone who leads us away from Scripture is serving Satan and not the Lord (v. 14). They might seem to be deeply versed in Scripture, and they might use all the right words, but if their teaching draws us away from the Word of God, or fails to lead us ever deeper into it, they are false teachers.

False teaching led to all manner of problems in the churches in Corinth. Those who had been deceived and were clinging to the false teachers were on the path to hell (v. 15). Paul’s true teaching showed them the way back onto the Jesus Path.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Paul—like any parent or teacher who finds themselves saying and teaching the same thing repeatedly—was experiencing a tiny bit of holy exasperation! Disingenuousness reigned, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11.14).

Strong words, but they declared what was going on in Corinth.

Jesus clearly named the perpetrator of the problem: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (Jn. 8.44).

Paul added this disclaimer: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1.8, 9).

The accursed are accursed, but it also doesn’t go well for those who believe them.

God speaks clearly to His people:
“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
There shall be no foreign god among you;
nor shall you worship any foreign god.
I AM the LORD your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
open your mouth wide and I will fill it” (Ps. 81.8-10).

To be found pleasing to God, to avoid following false gods, Paul clarifies the problem and the solution:
“Brethren, join in following my example,
and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping,

that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly,
and whose glory is in their shame—
who set their mind on earthly things.
For our citizenship is in heaven,
from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body,
according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Phil. 3.17-21).

How grateful we all should be for parents and teachers and preachers and Scripture writers and friends and mentors, who through “holy exasperation”, have taught us the truth and have guided us “back onto the Jesus Path” should we have accidentally, inadvertently, or intentionally strayed into false teaching of any kind.

Then, make sure to only follow true apostles, those who by their lives show “that they are true followers of Jesus, and that the truth of Jesus is in them.”

For reflection
1. How can you tell whether a teacher is true or false?

2. What does this suggest about how you and all believers must approach your time in the Word?

3. Whom will you encourage today to be earnest about reading and studying the Word of God?

Satan sometimes transforms himself into an angel of light in order to test those who need testing or to deceive those who deserve deception. Nothing but the great mercy of God can save a man from mistaking bad demons for good angels and false friends for true ones and from suffering the full damages of this diabolical deception which is all the more deadly in that it is wily beyond words. Augustine (354-430), City of God, 19.9

Pray Psalm 52.1-7.
Pray that God will keep you from being led astray by false teachers, and that He will daily ground you more firmly in His Word.

Sing Psalm 52.1-7.
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
Why do the mighty boast in sin? God’s love endures, it knows no end!
They with their tongues vain boasts repeat, and like a razor, work deceit.

Men more than good in evil delight, and lies prefer to what is right.
They utter words both harsh and strong with their devouring, deceitful tongue.

God will forever break them down, uproot, and cast them to the ground!
He from their safety tears them away, no more to know the light of day.

The righteous see and laugh and fear, and say, “Behold, what have we here?
Such are all who at God conspire, and wealth and evil ways desire.”

T. M. and Susie Moore

Growing in prayer
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter, available by clicking here.