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2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 13. We'll just have a read of that. 2 Corinthians 11 13. Just those first few words. For such are false apostles. The title of the sermon this morning is false apostles. Okay, false apostles. Now, if you remember chapter 10, Paul was kind of defending himself against some of his critics within the church. Okay, now chapter 10, you could look at that and yes, you could say some of those critics were false brethren, false apostles within the church. I'm sure some of them were. But I feel like in chapter 11 there's a change. In chapter 10 he's probably just dealing with believers, true brethren, true believers that are critical, that are a bit in the flesh, that are being deceived by these false apostles. But when we get to chapter 11 now he's definitely dealing with false apostles, dealing with false brethren. So while this church in Corinth had improved so much, they still had a major problem, right? And one of those major problems where they were listening to false apostles within the church. Okay, they were being influenced by false brethren. And I believe this is where the criticism of Paul was coming from, was from these false apostles criticizing Paul, influencing the church, and now Paul deals with them directly. So let's look at verse number one. And again, keep in mind, verse number one makes sense after we've understood chapter 10, because chapter 10 he's spending his time defending himself. Okay, so when we get to verse number one in chapter 11, he says, Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed bear with me. Now, what does the word folly mean? It's not like Tim folly, alright, folly is like foolishness, okay, foolishness. So he's saying to the church, hey, bear with me a little bit in my foolishness, okay, and indeed bear with me. So I was going to call this title, bear with me, or bear with him, because look at verse number four, just the end, the last three words of verse number four, it says bear with him. So he's talking about bear with me as you kind of bear with him, okay. So he's talking about comparing himself with others within the church, those being the false apostles that we deal with in a minute, okay. But he's saying, look, if you look at, again, the reason why he says this is folly or foolishness is because it's kind of the idea, I've already defended myself, I've already done this, I already spoke about this, bear with me a little bit more as I continue to defend myself in the face of these false apostles within the church, okay. So it's kind of like, it's sort of like he's foolish for defending himself. I don't need to be doing this, but bear with me a little bit more, bear with me as I defend myself a little bit more, okay. Verse number two, for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy, okay. So the first thing I want you to understand, and I'm gonna preach one day a whole sermon on jealousy, okay, but there's nothing wrong with being jealous, okay. In this world today we have a negative perception of what jealousy is, okay. Now in the Bible jealousy is actually a good attribute to have, and that probably sounds weird. It's just because we understand jealousy as something totally different today, okay. In the Bible there's two different words. There's jealousy and there's envy, okay, and today the things that we call being jealous, like a negative term, is actually envy, okay. Biblical envy is a negative thing, being envious is a sin, but being jealous is a godly attribute, okay. I mean the name of God is jealous, if you guys remember that in the Exodus, okay. There's nothing wrong with being jealous, and just to just quickly help you understand the difference between jealousy and envy, is if something belongs to you, if you have the authority to protect something, then you ought to be jealous about that, okay. And it says to the Corinthian church that I am jealous over you with godly jealousy, because the Apostle Paul has authority in this church. He's led many of these people to the Lord, and he feels responsible, and he is responsible, because God has given him the authority as an apostle to look after this church. It's just because you're belonging to me, because I have the authority over you, I'm jealous of you. I want to protect you, okay. But envy is different. Envy is when something doesn't belong to you. Let's say one of you guys drove in with your nice sports car, and I look at that and I go, man, I wish I had that. Obviously that's not mine. I'm being envious. Some people say, well, you're jealous. No, I'm actually being envious that you have that, and I don't have that. So that's the difference between jealousy and envy. Jealousy is something that belongs to you, you have authority over, and envy is when it doesn't belong to you, like your neighbor's wife, or something like that, okay. That's being envious. Now it says, for I am jealous of you with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. So he uses the analogy of a marriage, of a chaste virgin, undefiled, being presented to a husband. And that's what he wants for this church. He wants this church to come before the Lord undefiled, okay. Without being deceived with false doctrine, without the false apostles influencing this church, that's how he wants to present this church to the Lord, okay. But you can only take this analogy so far, because you guys already know this church had major problems. I mean, a chaste virgin is someone that has never defiled themselves, right. Well this church spiritually had defiled themselves numerous times, okay. They had major problems, as you know, okay. But they had gone about fixing those things. And so Paul wanted to make sure, you know, we fix these things, we deal with the things that are remaining, because that's how I want to present you. A perfect church not having to be ashamed when the Lord Jesus Christ comes, okay. And that's why he's jealous over at the church. He wants to protect it from negative influences. Verse number three, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. So what does it mean to beguile? The serpent, Satan, beguiled Eve, it means to deceive, okay. It's tricked, deceived, it's fooled Eve, and he's afraid that this chaste virgin that he's trying to present to the Lord would be beguiled by Satan, would be deceived by Satan, okay. It says through his subtlety, okay. So, you know, being subtle is being very acute, being very sly, okay. Now we had a good sermon on Friday about Pentecostals, about the charismatic movement. Now if you're a mature believer, okay, a true believer in the Lord, and you're mature in the Lord, that's not going to deceive you, okay, because it's not subtle. Like, it's very different to the Scriptures. The way they go about, you know, preaching, doing their business, falling on the floor, slaying people in the Spirit, speaking in unknown tongues, what they call unknown tongues, speaking gibberish, that's not going to fool a mature believer. Who is it going to fool? It's going to foolish the carnal Christian, the babing Christ, or the unbeliever, okay. It's there as a distraction. It is of the devil, but it's a distraction for really the unbelieving world, okay, to think they can get into these churches, and now I'm a Christian, now I'm right with God, okay. But what you need to understand what we're dealing with this passage aren't the unsaved, you know, you know, churches, and all that goes on in those churches, but those that come into a church using subtlety, okay. They trick even the mature believers, okay. I mean, it's just like Judas Iscariot. He was in the presence with all the disciples of Jesus Christ those three years of his ministry. I mean, obviously Jesus knew who would betray him, okay, but you know when he was out and out the apostles were like, the disciples were like, what him? They were more thinking it might be me. It might be me that betrayed Jesus, right, because I'm sure they had foolish thoughts. I'm sure they said foolish things, and now they're thinking, oh, has that come back to bite me? Am I the betrayer, right, and so we need to be careful of people that will come into our church using subtlety. I'm not so concerned about the one that comes in and is like an outright heretic because no one's going to be tricked by that, okay, but it's the one that comes very sly, very, you know, and trying to deceive just like the way Satan deceived Eve to partake of that fruit, okay, and so I like how it says, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. You know biblical Christianity? I mean, let's start with the gospel. The gospel we know is very simple. We use this verse a lot to talk about the simplicity of the gospel, the simplicity of salvation. Jesus Christ did all the hard work, you know, it's just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved, right. Simple, but you know this is more than just salvation. This is just biblical Christianity is simple. It's not like, you know, even when you read the Bible, you know, the major core doctrines, they're not like overly complicated, okay. They stand out in the Bible, okay. That's why even false churches, even the cults know a lot of truth because these things aren't really complicated. Yes, there are deep things, there are deep doctrines that require study, but when it comes to just living a day-to-day Christian life, knowing the major doctrines and standing on those truths, it's not complicated, okay. Christianity really is not a complicated thing and some people just make it over complicated, right. They navel-gaze, they focus on a few words and try to create doctrines out of things that aren't really in the scriptures, you know. So anyway, this is how these false apostles come in, guys. Very subtle. You're going to think of them as apostles, as leaders, as brethren. Let's go to verse number four. For he, and this is what they come doing, for he that cometh preacheth another Jesus. There are other Jesuses that are being preached, okay, whom we have not preached. And this is why I take strongly, and I'm not going to re-preach the sermon, Jesus is the Son of God, but I take a firm stance that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's who he is. He's the Son of God the Father, okay. He's not God the Father. He's not the first person of the Trinity. He's not the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, but he's God the Son. He's Jesus Christ, the second person in the Trinity, and so, you know, we need to be careful of people that come preaching another Jesus, okay. And it's not just in that sense, obviously, that's the topic we're dealing with, oneness and modalism and things like that, but obviously those that just flat-out deny the deity of Christ, okay. I mean, I figure if someone's flat-out denying the deity of Christ, again, we're not going to really be deceived by that. It's like, but those that come preach another Jesus that sounds like our Jesus, yeah, it's easy to be deceived by that, okay. And then it says, or if you receive another spirit which you have not received, and again, I think the sermon you preached, brother, on Friday matches really well this. People come in with another spirit. You know, how can we make sure that we're walking in the spirit in our lives, right? How can we make sure of that, that we can always be in the spirit. People come with another spirit. Now, is this talking about sort of being influenced and sent by Satan as another spirit? Yes. When you look at the context of this chapter, yes it is. But it's those obviously that were not born of the spirit. They don't have the new man in them. They're unsaved, but they come preaching this other way, okay. And again, if you want, throw the Pentecostal churches in you. A lot of, I mean, all of them, I would say, are preaching another spirit, are coming with another spirit. This gold das, what was the palm thing they were telling me about? Oil on the palms? Was that, is that representing like the crucifixion? Okay, well anyway, I thought they would be smart enough to at least say that. Not even that. Alright, I mean, they come with totally another spirit, right? Searching some other spirit that is not the Holy Spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. So this is what is warning the church. This is what is fearful about. That they would bear, or put up with, people coming in beguiling them in subtlety, teaching them, another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit, okay. Now we need to make sure as a church we stand firm on these doctrines, because I don't want to put up with, I don't want to bear well with people coming in and doing this, okay. Now, am I saying that just the average person that walks in, you know, maybe a new believer, or maybe just totally unsaved, is confused on these things and we need to kick them out? No. Pay attention to the words it says there. It says, if he cometh, preacheth another Jesus. So someone's trying to come in, it's not that they're just confused and need a bit of help, and we can guide them, but they're trying to teach the church. They're trying to convince the church of another Jesus, okay. These are, you know, so-called leaders, okay, trying to come and teach us, rather than being taught of us, okay. It says, or if you receive another spirit, or receive another gospel, meaning they're coming, because if you're going to receive something, it means they're offering something, right. They're coming, they're trying to influence the church. So we need to be careful, just because someone walks in here and has another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel, that we don't just run them out, okay, because they need guidance. Hopefully they're coming in to learn from us, to grow, right. But again, we've got to separate them from those that are trying to come in and influence our church, okay. Be mindful about those two things. Don't treat those that are a little bit misled as the same people as this, okay. Don't be that way. Otherwise, you know, it's kind of like, we're going to get to a point where the only people we allow in this church are those that are lined up a hundred percent with the pastor, or something like that, right. And that's just, that's not right, okay. We need to give a bit of wiggle room for people to learn and grow, okay. We need to be careful about that. So let's look at verse number five. For I suppose I was not a wits behind the chiefest apostles. And by the way, this is, this chapter Paul gets back to his sarcastic ways. It makes me feel a bit better, like about my sarcasm. He gets back to his sarcastic ways. So that word wit, w-h-i-t, means a small portion, okay. So it goes, for I suppose I was kind of like, I suppose that I'm not inferior to the other apostles, is what he's saying, okay. Like, you know, I'm, he's not proudly boasting of himself, of himself, but he's saying, hey, I'm like these other apostles. I'm like the chief apostles, the chiefest apostles, without boasting about it, right. And it reminds me a little bit, I'll just read it to you very quickly, 1 Corinthians 15 9, where he says, for I am the least of the apostles, okay. Paul doesn't want to boast of himself. He says, I'm the least of the apostles that am not meant to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. So this whole thing, and this is why he says, please bear with me, bear with my folly a little bit, because he's got to, he's got to speak well of himself without trying to boast of himself. If you remember the previous chapter, he says, if you're going to glory, then glory of the Lord, right. So that's the difference with Paul and these false apostles. They boast, they glory of themselves, but him not, right. But he's trying to be careful, that's why he's saying, hey, put up with my folly a little bit, put up with my foolishness a little bit, okay. And let's look at verse number six, for though I be rude in speech. Now let me just stop there, because a lot of people are going to read this and think, ah, so Paul is rude in speech, meaning that he tries to offend people, because that's how we think of being rude, right. Someone that's, if you say, oh, you're very rude, you're saying, hey, you're very offensive with your words, okay. But the word rude actually means rough or raw, okay. Now if you remember, I'll just quickly read to you 1 Corinthians 2.1, Paul says to the Corinthian church, and I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech, okay. So when Paul preaches and speaks to him, he's not trying to dazzle, you know, the church by his high education and his big words and trying to make things, you know, overly complicated, right. He comes speaking plainly, words easy to understand, and that's what he means by being rude, okay. He's not, you know, a fancy talker, and again, remember, he's comparing himself to these false apostles, which I would assume are the fancy talkers, are using the big words, are trying to mesmerise the church by their high education and Bible college degrees or whatever, right. And so he says, look, yeah, I might be a little bit raw in the way I talk, you know, but he goes, yet not in knowledge. So he goes, look, I'm not a, I'm not a stupid man, okay. The Lord Jesus Christ has taught me these things. I come to you in authority, in knowledge, in power, and then he says this, but we have been freely made manifest among you in all things. So he goes, look, I've been made manifest to you. You've seen my works. You've seen how I help the church. A number of you've been saved because of my preaching. I've started this church. All the works that I have done and those that have been with me have made us manifest to you. You know that I'm genuine, right. You know I'm a genuine apostle of Christ. And again, it's this whole having to defend himself even though he has proven himself to the church already, okay. And verse number seven, and by the way, any church leader, any pastor needs to be made manifest. They need to be proven. You need to be able to see their track record, whether in the church or in other places. Again, if people are hiding those things, you don't know where they come from, you know that, or they've got a bad track record, then you shouldn't be listening to them. You shouldn't be putting up with them in the church, okay. Verse number seven, have I committed an offense in obeying myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely. So he's basically saying in verse seven that he hasn't sinned. He hasn't caused an offense. He hasn't sinned by serving them freely, but he did it to exalt to the brethren, all right. He was not being paid, and we go back to this topic of money, right, but he was not being paid by the church, okay. And he's saying, have I sinned by doing that? Like, are you looking down on me because I'm doing this for free? Because what we'll see later is these false apostles in the church were asking to be paid, were asking for money, and he's again comparing himself to these false apostles, okay. But what we gather here is that he has served this church freely. He has never been paid by the Corinthian church for any of the service he has done, okay. And then look at verse number eight. This goes well with verse number seven. I robbed other churches, taking wages of them to do you service, okay. So the reason I can serve you, the reason I can help you, the reason I can come out here is because other churches have paved my way here. Other churches are making sure my needs are being met, and he says this to embarrass the Corinthian church, okay. And we'll see his sarcasm come out. Now, has he actually robbed other churches? Like, did he go to the Macedonian church and open up their, you know, their treasury and take money for himself and rob them? No, he didn't do that, okay. Because what he means by robbing other churches is that the Corinthian church should have been paying him. They should have offered him, hey, Paul, thanks for serving us. We've taken up a love offering so you can continue serving us, or you can go out and serve other churches, okay. But because you've not done that, in a sense you have caused me to kind of rob other churches and take of them, though those churches did give it to him freely so he can be serving the Corinthian church. You see here that he's really trying to embarrass the church using sarcasm, okay. Verse number nine, and when I was present with you and wanted, so when he needed things in their presence, I was chargeable to no man. He didn't go around asking, hey, I need you to pay my electricity bill. Can you pay where I need to stay? I need to stay here tonight. Are you able to pay for that? No, he didn't charge any man. For that which was lacking to me, the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied. So when I needed finances to serve you, the brethren from Macedonia supplied. Now if you remember chapter 8, when Paul is talking about taking up a donation, an offering for the needy believers in Jerusalem, remember that? He's saying, hey, you need to finish this giving, which kind of shows you the heart of the Corinthian church. They were pretty tight with money, okay. They didn't manage their funds very well, okay. They weren't providing for Paul and they hadn't yet finished that collection to the Judean believers. But he says, and if you remember that chapter, he talked about the Macedonians being in poverty and he talks about the Corinthians having abundance. So if anyone was going to supply his needs, it should have been the Corinthian church. And yet it was a Macedonian church, those that were lacking, those that were in poverty, that are helping him serve the Corinthian church. So you can see how he's kind of embarrassing the Corinthian church here. Hey, it's the poorer church that has provided all my needs to serve you, okay. And then he keeps going, and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. So he's saying, look, I'm not going to take any money from you. I'm not going to be paid for you. It's fine. My needs are being supplied. First of all, he was a tent maker. He was working for himself, but he was also being supplied by these other churches. He had the finances to be able to serve them, okay. And he says, and so will I keep myself. So even if you came now and offered me money, no, I'm keeping myself unchargeable to you. I don't want to be a burden to you. But was he really being a burden to them? No, okay. This is where, again, his sarcasm comes out, okay. But it just brings to light that this church just was really struggling with the giving aspects, the financial giving, okay. Verse number 10, as the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me in this boasting in the regions of Achaia. So if you haven't figured this out already, I don't know if I mentioned this, but the city of Corinth is in the area of Achaia. I don't know if it's a territory or what, or it's like a state or something like that, but he says, look, no one's going to stop me boasting that I do this for free in Achaia, okay. And of course, we know that he doesn't boast of himself, but that he glories in the Lord, okay. So the fact that he's able to go out and serve freely without charge, you know, he's boasting in the Lord that the Lord has provided his every need. That the churches, the brethren from around the areas have provided his needs, and he boasts of that. He's not boasting of himself. He boasts that his needs are covered because the Lord is providing for him, okay. Again, just remember, previous chapter, verse 17, chapter 10, verse 17, he says, but hear that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. We know Paul's heart, right. When he talks about boasting and glorying, it's always in the Lord, okay. Verse 11, wherefore, so why will I continue serving you freely? Why will I not ask anything from you financially? Wherefore, because I love you not? God knoweth. So he says, look, the reason he's willing to continue to serve this church without charge is because he loves them. That's why. And he says, the Lord knows this. Do you think I don't love you? The fact that I'm doing this for free, I'm serving you, trying to help you, proves my love toward you, okay. I love you very much. I'm your apostle. I'm here to serve you and to love you, and that's why I'm going to refrain from asking for money. And you say, well why is that? Why can't I? Because you see, it's the false apostles that were asking for money, and he's trying to differentiate himself from them, okay. And so if he loves them because he's serving them freely, then what is he saying about the false apostles? They're asking for money. Why? Because they don't love you. They're not going to serve you for free, okay. And verse 12. But what I do, that I will do. That I may cut off occasion from them, so there it is that those false apostles, that I might cut off occasion from them, which desire occasion, that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. Okay. So he kind of puts a challenge to these false apostles. I'd rather stay the way I am, not being paid, not being charged, not charging you for my service, and then look at those last words, that they may be found even as we. Hey, the challenge is, how about they serve you freely? Okay. So what we gather here, the reason they were poor, you know, they weren't managing their money very well, because first they weren't giving to the needy believers. They weren't giving to, you know, Paul, but they were paying the false apostles. That's how badly they had been deceived, right. They had the guest missionary come in. They had the guest pastor come in. They weren't checking if this guy's a real believer or not. They were preaching that they were influencing the church, and the church was like, wow, look at his great speech. Look at him. Look at his flesh. Look at his outward appearance. You know, we better take up a collection and pay them. And he puts the challenge, hey, how about they be like me? How about they be like us and not be paid? Let's see if they serve you now, right. And that's what they want. They want the finances. They want to take advantage of a church, okay. They want to take advantage of you, which is why we need to be careful of these false apostles. And, you know, I'm thankful, and, you know, honestly, I'm really thankful that I've not taken a paycheck from the church. I really am, because a lot of you really don't know me until, I mean, we're 10 months in now, you know me, but you didn't know me when we first started this church. You didn't know what I was like. You know, I hadn't really spent personal time with you in any sort of, you know, length of time, and I'm really thankful when I read this chapter that I've not, that I have served freely, if you want, if you will, right. Why? Because what we saw there is that the reason it doesn't, it's because you love the brethren, you know, and I'm hoping that you can see that in me as your pastor, that I love the brethren, that I love you in the Lord, you know. You know, it's not easy to take a large family, you know, leave, you know, the work and the people you have to come up here, you know, in faith, really. You know, I wasn't sure how this was all gonna work out. It's worked out better than I imagined, right. But I hope that shows you that I love you, right. I mean, if I was coming here trying to say, hey, we need to put more money in the offering, I need to get paid, I can understand, man, I don't even know this guy. He hasn't even proven himself, you know. He's, we haven't, he hasn't even manifested his works. We don't know anything about him and he's asking us to pay him, but that was the error of the Corinthian church. They were painting people they didn't even know because they were, they were amazed, they were beguiled, okay, by these false apostles. Verse 13, for such are false apostles, right, that's what they're like. Deceitful workers transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ, okay. So the church thought they were apostles of Christ, they thought they were true believers, but they were actually false apostles, okay. They're not even saved, okay. You'll see later on talks about false brethren, they're not even saved. And it says, verse 14, and no marvel. Don't be surprised, don't be amazed, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, okay. And I think about the false religions of Islam and the false religion of Mormonism. The founders of this church were approached by an angel of light, preaching another gospel, another spirit, another Jesus, okay. They had been deceived and these are major religions in the world. Islam's, I don't know how many millions of people believe in Islam, and Mormonism has a stronghold in the United States and even in some of our Pacific Islands, okay. It's because they've been deceived by the angel of light, they've been deceived by Satan himself. But it says, and no marvel, don't be surprised. And yet it does surprise many, right. Because it is subtle, because you are deceived, just like Judas. You think they weren't surprised? Of course they were, okay. They spent three years with Jesus Christ himself. You think these would be the most knowledgeable and most aware of all the things Jesus has been teaching? I mean if we had Jesus preaching for us for three years, wouldn't we think, man, we're gonna grow so much, we're gonna be more like Christ, gonna have so much more knowledge, and yet even them could allow Judas to be amongst their midst and not even know about it, right. Even they were surprised. It's a very hard thing, right. But he's saying, look, don't be shocked. Don't be shocked when it happens. If there's a Judas right now, just leave please. I don't want to be shocked later on, okay. If you're a Judas, then just leave. Verse 15. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers, whose ministers? Satan's ministers. Sorry guys. Satan's ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. Sorry guys, just one minute. Just want to make sure the broadcast hasn't cut out. Seems to be going, alright. So yeah, don't think a great thing that his ministers. Look, these false apostles that come in, it's not just like this misguided people. The Bible says they're ministers of Satan. Satan himself has come in and sent these people. They know they represent Lucifer. They know they represent Satan. They know they come in and they're there to try and take advantage of you. It's not like, oh he's a nice guy, he's just trying his best but he's messed up. No, they're ministers of Satan, okay. That's why they need to be cast out. They need to be called out and they need to be preached against, okay. And you go, oh man, but he's a nice guy. He's a minister of Satan. He's serving Satan, okay. He's a child of the devil. A reprobate most likely. I would say he's a reprobate, okay. I'm not talking about the average person that walks in, unsure, confused. I'm talking about those that are trying to destroy a church. Those that come in the name of Satan. You don't know that, okay. Because they come as that angel of light. They come as ministers of Christ. They come looking like us. They come looking more like us, okay. Wolves in sheep's clothing. They look like sheep. But every now and again their ears are gonna point out. You're gonna notice that nose. That looks like a wolf, okay. And when they're called out, it'll be like, wow, I'm surprised. I'm shocked. I can't believe it. Hey, no marvel. Don't be surprised by this, okay. Verse 16. I say again, let no man think me a fool, if otherwise yet as a fool receive me that I may boast myself a little, okay. So it says, look, since the false prophets boast of themselves, then let me do it a little as well, as a fool, okay. So let me boast a little bit about myself. We'll see how he boasts about himself, but he says, look, it's foolish to do that, okay. But let me do it a little. Since you allow these false apostles to boast of themselves, then just give me a, let me do it a little bit, okay. Let me do it a little bit. That's what he's saying in verse 16. Though in reality, obviously, he isn't foolish, okay. We know the Apostle Paul wasn't foolish. Verse 17. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly in this confidence of boasting. So it says, look, what it's about to say may sound foolish, so as it were foolishly. It's not foolish, but as it were, okay. And he says, I speak not after the Lord. So if you take it as foolishness, you know, it's not the Lord that's foolish. Take it as me being foolish, okay. It's not a reflection of the Lord. Verse 18. Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. So because these false apostles glory about themselves, they glory in their flesh, then I'll do it a little bit as well, okay. Verse 19. Sorry, yeah. For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. Now that's the sarcasm of Paul. He says, look, suffer means allow, right. He says, for you allow foolish people gladly. Hey, you're glad to receive these false apostles. You're glad to do that, seeing yourselves as wise, because you think you're wise. He's putting them down for their foolishness, right. For allowing, for gladly allowing these false apostles to influence the church, right. Then obviously they're not wise for doing that, but again, the sarcasm of Paul, right. The sarcasm of Paul. Remember that. Verse 20. For ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. Hey, you just allow yourself to be taken under bondage. You're allowing these false apostles come in and add extra biblical requirements upon you, okay. You're being taken in bondage. You're being restricted by these false apostles. Reminds me of the Pharisees when Jesus Christ had to deal with them. He says, if a man devour you, they're taking advantage of you. They're taking your resources. They're taking your finances, okay. They're taking advantage of you. If a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, they're bolsters. They're prideful. They exalt themselves. If a man smite you on the face, these people come in and smacking them on the face, and they're like, oh, they're doing it, yeah, this is an apostle of Christ, you know. Man, again, sorry, I know this isn't like, okay, but I'm just thinking about the Pentecostals, the Charismatics, right, the Pentecostals. I mean, I've seen them smite people on the face, right. I've seen them push people down. There's a story of some guy who says, I just walked up to some kid and just punched him in the stomach. It's like, that's what the Lord wanted, right. I can't remember. You know, this is a message from the Lord. Bang! That's post-apostles, right. But, do you see how foolish they were? They allowed these people to come into the church and influence them, right. Verse 21. I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold, I speak foolishly, I am bold also. So I think what he's saying there is that he would be equally bold to these false apostles, though they thought him as weak. Remember that they criticized him about his weakness, you know, he's not a great speaker, you know. In fact, he may have been sickly as well, Paul, right. He says, look, I will be bold toward them as well, okay. He's gonna call them out. And here comes the foolish boasting of himself that he's about to talk about. That's why he says, I speak foolishly. Verse 22. Are they Hebrews? So am I. So who were these people that were coming into this Gentile church, if you want, because it was in Greece. It was the Jews, right. They came in, are they Hebrews? He goes, so am I. Are they boasting the fact that they're a physical descendant of Abraham? Are they boasting about being an Israelite? Well, so am I. What's so good about that? You know, that's what he's saying. So are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Guys, what did the Pharisees boast about when they approached Christ? Hey, we're children of God. We're children of Israel. We're children of Abraham. It surprises me, just believers, independent fundamental Baptist churches, or other churches, that look at a Jew, that look at someone that will say they're Jewish, you know, a descendant of Abraham, and exalt them. Guys, aren't we gonna learn from the Scriptures? It doesn't matter, right. It's not important, but that's what they boast about. You know, I remember, I talked to people, you know, friends, and I want, you know, don't want to embarrass my friends, but sometimes I'm talking to them, and they're like, I'm like, oh, where'd you hear that? Where'd you hear that teaching, or that idea? Oh, I read a book from a Jewish Christian. Why do you have to say a Jewish Christian? I mean, I don't say to you, I'm an Australian Christian, right? You know, oh, you know, my friend Kevin started a church on the Sunshine Coast. Oh, you know, what kind of Christian is he? Oh, he's an Australian Christian. But you know why they say Jewish Christian? Because they're boasting of their heritage. They're boasting of their descendants. Though it means nothing, okay. It means nothing. Galatians 3, 28, for there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither born nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. That's what matters. That's what's important, that you're in Jesus Christ. The fact that you're male or female or Jew or Greek or bondage or a servant or a mouse, doesn't matter, okay. Don't boast about those things. If you're in the Lord Jesus, boast of Him, okay. But that's what they're boasting of, these false apostles. I'm Jewish. I'm Hebrew. I'm special, okay. Verse 23, are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more. Hey, I'm more of a minister of Christ, but they're not really ministers of Christ. We found out they're ministers of Satan. That's why he says, I speak as a fool, okay. But that's what they say about themselves. But I've done more than, I minister to you more than they have. In labour's more abundance. I've laboured harder. I've worked harder than they. And this is the boasting that he does himself, right. In stripes above measure. In prisons more frequent. In deaths oft. So he's had, he's died or close to death. He's been persecuted. He's been hated by the world. He's worked harder than all these false apostles, alright. I mean if they're going to boast of themselves, let me boast a little bit, okay. Let me do, that's the foolishness that he's talking about, right. He's comparing himself to these false apostles. Of the Jews, verse 24, of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Now forty stripes, forty whippings was the maximum in the Old Testament law, that if someone was to be punished by being whipped, that forty stripes would be the maximum. That's the hardest penalty you could give someone with that payment, okay. So he's suffered that. Forty lashes save one, so it's thirty-nine lashes, five times of the Jews. The Jews, so I just worked that out quickly, five times, wait, who knows mathematics? What's five times thirty-nine? Who can work that out? Come on homeschoolers. Huh? Are you homeschooled? Good work. It is 195 times, okay. He's been whipped 195 times. These false apostles probably haven't been whipped once, alright. Verse 25, thrice three times was I beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Was I stoned? Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep. Now some of you guys might know the story in Acts 27 and 28, where you get the story of Paul being shipwrecked, okay. I don't know if you remember that. That hadn't yet happened when he wrote this epistle, okay. So he's already gone for a shipwreck three times and then a fourth time later, maybe more, okay. Some of these things we don't know about. A lot of it is documented in the in the book of Acts, but a lot of this is not documented in the book of Acts, alright. He has suffered more than what we read about in the Bible. Verse 26, in journey So making long travels. In perils of water, dangers of water. In perils of robbers. In perils of mine own countrymen. In perils by the heathen. In perils in the city. In perils in the wilderness. In perils in the sea. In perils among false brethren. Everywhere he's gone, land, sea, brethren, heathen, people that don't know him. He's been persecuted. He's been in danger of all these things. Verse 27, in weariness and painfulness, okay. He's suffered pain. In watchings often. He hasn't been able to sleep well at night. He hasn't had a place to rest his head. That's why in watchings often. In hunger and thirst is God without food and water. In fastings often. Not because he's fasting for the Lord, but fastings he didn't have anything to eat. That's what he's suffering. In cold and nakedness. Not enough clothing to keep him warm during the cold weather. Keep in mind why he's talking about all these things, okay. Not really to boast of himself. Though if that's the perception, then say that that's me being foolish. He's comparing himself to the false apostles. They haven't gone through this. They live in luxury. They live in comforts. They take advantage of the brethren. They seek the brethren. They seek believers to take advantage of them. That's how wicked they are, okay. Instead of taking advantage of wicked people, they're so wicked that they take advantage of God's people. Because I've not done that. I'm willing to suffer for the name of Christ, okay. They aren't. Verse 28. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. So it says not just those things that are without, so outside the physical sufferings of his body. It's not just that that he's had to bear with, but also the care of all the churches. So spiritually and mentally burdened he was, right. He's got the care. He's got the love for other churches. He hears about their problems and he worries about that. It's a burden on him. He goes and prays about it, right. It's a spiritual and mental burden on him, not just the physical sufferings. Verse 29. Who is weak? Am I not weak? It's like saying if those church people in those churches are weak, he says I'm weak also, right. Who is offended? If someone's offended in the churches, am I? And I burn not? Hey, he bears the burdens of others. He prays for these people that are offended or that are weak. These are things that weigh him down in his mind and that's good. That's the right thing to do, but he's expressing. It's not just the physical. There's a lot going on as well inside of me that you don't know about. All the cares that I have all these churches. Obviously the care that he had for the Corinth Church as well. Verse 30. If I must needs glory. So if I'm going to glory about anything, if I have to glory, if I needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. So it wasn't his purpose to boast the glory of these things, okay. But he needed to do this to put the false apostles to shame. Hey, they're boasting of themselves so much, I boasted myself a little bit and they don't even match up. They don't even come close to what I have had suffered. So yeah, in contrast he's comparing himself to these false apostles, demonstrating that these false apostles, because he's saying this is foolish of me, right. He's saying it's kind of foolish talking. He's trying to show them how much more foolish these false apostles are. Boasting on themselves. They haven't even done half of what the Apostle Paul has done, okay. Foolish false apostles. Verse 31. He starts to wrap it up now. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed forever. You see he glories of God, right. He blesses the Lord. He blesses the Lord God. Knoweth that I lie not. These things that I spoke about, all these troubles, I'm not lying about it. The Lord knows this is all true, okay. This is all true. Every word he said about his sufferings are true. And then he gives one last story here in verse 32 and verse 33. He says, in Damascus the governor under Aretas, the king, kept the city of the the mass scenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me. So this governor in Damascus wanted to take hold of Paul, wanted to arrest Paul, and he put the whole city in lockdown to find him. Verse 33. And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall and escaped his hands. So the way I escaped this governor was literally out the window down this huge wall in a basket, right. This is the kind of adventures that Paul had had to go through from the persecution that he found himself in. That story, if you want to read about it, is in Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 9. We won't go through that now. But I think the lesson that we can get out of this chapter is that, you know, that we shouldn't boast of ourselves. Of the small inconveniences that come our way. I mean, someone swears at you at the door. Someone mocks your Christianity. Someone laughs at the Bible. How can you believe that book? And we're like all offended, right. Look, you've not gone through what Paul has gone through, okay. I've not gone through what Paul has gone through, right. So let's not be foolish like these false apostles boasting of ourselves. That's what they do. Boast of themselves of a little bit of affliction that they went through, you know. And can we, we can't honestly say that we're being persecuted, right. I mean, just because you're in Facebook jail doesn't mean you're being persecuted, right. I'm not on my knees praying for you if you find yourself in Facebook jail. You know, you've said something offensive and Facebook has closed down your account. I'm not praying for you. I'm sorry. I'm not praying, Dear Lord, please deliver them from Facebook jail and give them back their profile. No, it's not happening, right. You know, let's be mindful about, you know, what real persecution is, okay. And again, we talk about the persecution that seems to be coming. How things are coming into place to restrict our freedom of speech, to restrict the Bible. Yeah, yeah. We can talk about all those things, but right now we have freedom. We don't know, we're not being persecuted, guys. You know, are we going to take advantage of the position we're in in Australia, you know, or are we afraid of being persecuted at the door because someone slams the door in our face. I mean, I can probably count on one hand how many times a door has been slammed in my face. Most people are kind of polite and just close it nicely, right. I've been persecuted. No, hey, look, this should challenge us. This challenges me when I went through it that I need to be doing more for the Lord, okay. I need to take advantage of the freedoms I have because I've not suffered anywhere near what Paul had suffered. I mean, maybe if I go from my first shipwreck, maybe I can start going, oh, maybe I'm being persecuted or something, right. But until that happens, I've got nothing to glory in. I have nothing to boast about except the Lord Jesus Christ and we need to make sure we take advantage of this freedom we have in this nation. Alright, let's pray.