WWUTT 1708 Even Satan Disguises Himself as an Angel of Light (2 Corinthians 11:11-17)

There are many false teachers out there that are going to claim to be of Christ.

Do not receive them on that, but test what it is that they say. Does it line up with the scriptures when we understand the text?

This is when we understand the text studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study of 2 Corinthians 11.

I'm going to be reading from the Legacy Standard Bible, beginning in verse 10 and going through verse 17.

This is the word of the Lord through the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth. As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.

Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do, but what

I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be found just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Therefore it is not surprising if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their deeds.

Again I say, let no one think me foolish. But if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little.

What I am saying I am not saying according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.

Now what we're going to be focusing on today is mainly that section there in the middle where Paul warns about these false teachers.

They disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

But do not be deceived, they are false apostles. Before getting to that though, let's look at the bookends of this section that I've read to you.

Verse 10 and verse 17, the bookends, so the verses on either side of the passage. So first of all in verse 10,

Paul says, as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.

But then in verse 17, Paul says, what I am saying, I am not saying according to the

Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. It almost seems like Paul is contradicting himself because he begins in verse 10 by saying, the truth of Christ is in me.

And then in verse 17, he says, but what I am saying, I'm not saying according to the Lord.

So what are we to make of this? Well this is really the difference between an imperative and an indicative.

Sometimes we talk about the difference between imperatives and indicatives. Imperatives is what

God is telling you to do. An indicative is what God is telling you he has done.

In this particular case, this is Paul, not telling the

Corinthians what to do, but telling him what he has done. And not talking about Christ, but talking about himself.

So if Paul were telling them what to do, that would be an imperative. That would be of the

Lord. In this particular case, Paul is telling the Corinthians what he, Paul, has done for them, for their sake.

So it is not the Lord instructing them to do something. It is Paul dabbling in a little bit of foolishness so that the

Corinthians will not go after the false teachers. They will come back to the sound words of the Lord Christ as was delivered to them from the apostles.

Now we had talked about this a little bit when we were back in 1 Corinthians because there were things there in that letter where Paul said, now

I say to you, not the Lord, but I. So does that mean we dismiss that as not from God, like that's not

God's word so we can throw that out? Now, in that context, Paul was issuing wisdom and he was giving wisdom as somebody who was trustworthy.

He's an apostle of Jesus Christ. So it's still the word of God. It's in the Bible. It's the word of God. It would be received the same way like we might read any of the wisdom passages in Proverbs.

Even in Proverbs, there's imperatives and there's indicatives or there's things you should do. And then there's general wisdom that may not be true in every circumstance.

But generally, this is the way that we should follow and know how to apply it in a right way. And so that's the same with what

Paul was doing with the Corinthians in the previous letter in 1 Corinthians, how he would give them wisdom.

It's trustworthy wisdom. It comes from an apostle of Jesus Christ, but it's not necessarily an imperative.

So in this particular circumstance, not quite the same thing. He's not necessarily issuing wisdom, but he is boasting so that the

Corinthians will not follow the false teachers, but they'll follow him in their flesh. They are persuaded by the prideful attitudes of these false teachers.

And so Paul is coming to this in this way. Fine. You guys are impressed by boasting.

I'm going to boast in myself. See by our boasting, which one is a genuine, real apostle of Jesus Christ in this boasting that Paul is doing.

He is not boasting as in the Lord. It's not God boasting, right?

It's just Paul doing this so that he will persuade the Corinthians. But he's doing this as an act of love.

And ultimately, he is not pointing to himself. We're going to see that as we go through this. We're going to get to the more autobiographical section of Paul listing those things that he's been through.

We'll get to that next week. But you can see by what Paul lays out, he's not pointing to himself.

He's pointing to Christ. He's showing what he has sacrificed for the sake of the Corinthians so that they might know the

Lord and be saved. So therefore, Paul is ministering to them in Christ.

The truth of Christ is in me. It's not in those false teachers. It's in the true apostles that have been appointed by Christ.

But these words in particular that Paul is saying is not according to the Lord. It's not an imperative.

He's not telling the Corinthians to do something, but rather he is showing them what he has done for them so that they might know the truth and believe.

And what he did for them, the super apostles have not done for them. They have not loved the

Corinthians like Paul has loved these Corinthians. That's what he means to show to them by his boasting.

It's foolish. It's foolishness. Paul says, I'm like, I'm speaking as like a madman.

But he does it because he loves these Corinthians so much that they would not go after the lie and perish, but that they would know the truth and live.

So let's know the truth together. As we come back to this passage, looking especially at that section where Paul warns about false teachers.

So going on into verse 11, Paul says, why? Because I do not love you. God knows that I do.

But what I am doing, the boasting that he is doing, I will continue to do so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be found just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.

So they're boasting about themselves. We'd read that earlier about these false teachers. They boast about themselves.

They come with these letters of recommendation, like, look at how important we are in these letters of commendation that we have.

Look at the flashy clothes that we have. Listen to our amazing voices. Look at my flashy smile.

And they try to show themselves as being better. They're super apostles, which Paul refers to them sarcastically.

They're better apostles than even Paul or any of the other teachers who have come to you. So Paul sarcastically refers to them up in verse five as the most eminent apostles.

OK, you say they're better than me. Well, they are their most eminent apostles, and I'm not even worthy to sniff the dust that they're kicking up with their feet.

They are boasting in themselves to try to persuade the Corinthians to come after them.

But all they have in their boasting is in their flesh. It's just in themselves. Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ.

If there is anybody who has grounds for boasting, it's Paul. And when he does boast, he doesn't boast in all the great, incredible things he's accomplished.

He boasts in all of the ways that he has sacrificed himself for the Corinthians. For as he will say in verse 12, where I am weak, there he is strong.

There Christ is strong. I will boast all the more in my weaknesses so that Christ may be glorified.

Paul means to point the Corinthians entirely to Christ, not to himself, but to the

Lord, because it's Christ who saves us. It is faith in Jesus Christ that we have.

It's by that faith we have forgiveness of sins. We have everlasting life. We have fellowship with God.

So all of this is to direct them to Christ, to win them from the false teachers to the

Lord. These false teachers boast in themselves to try to gain the Corinthians, to try to advance themselves.

But all they have is themselves. This is like what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6.

Do not practice your righteousness before men to receive praise from them.

If that's what you want, then you've received your reward. If all you want is the praise of men, you've got everything you're ever going to get.

And that's the case with these false apostles. If all they want is to boast in themselves so that they can win the praise of men, they've got their greatest reward they're ever going to have.

But when they have to stand before God in judgment, they won't receive the kingdom of God. They will perish. So Paul says,

I'm doing what I am doing so that I cut off the opportunity that they have in boasting before you to try to win you into their following so that they won't be found as we are.

You will not consider them genuine apostles because they're not. So Paul goes on in verse 13 to say, for such men are false apostles.

He's very blunt and very clear here. Earlier, he called them most eminent apostles very sarcastically.

But just so nobody is confused, he says it to the point.

They are false apostles. They are deceitful workers. They are disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

They've come to you claiming to be of Christ, but they're not. And no wonder, he says in verse 14, for even

Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. And indeed,

Satan previously was an angel, as we understand his story. If you believe that Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 are making references to Satan.

And I do believe that is the case. So he was an angel with God in heaven was also talked about in the book of Revelation.

He rebelled against God. He was cast out of heaven and a third of the angels went with him.

So previously an angel cast out of heaven. And he and his minions, the demons, have been in rebellion against God ever since, wandering to and fro on the earth.

Satan says as much before God in the book of Job in chapter one, when God asks of him, where have you been?

And Satan says, I've been wandering to and fro on the earth. At the present, he is being restrained.

He is still active in the world, but his power is restrained until the one who is restraining him gets out of the way, which is probably

Michael, the archangel, understanding Daniel chapter 12. And at that point, he's going to have an opportunity to wreak his havoc once again in the earth.

Revelation 20 talks about this second Thessalonians chapter two. He will deceive the nations once again until Christ returns and will vanquish

Satan with a breath from his mouth. It will just be like, and that's it. Satan's gone.

That's how much power Satan has against Christ. Nothing. Christ can just destroy him in a moment.

Satan is not the opposite of Christ. Christ is God who will destroy

Satan. But we should not think that Satan does not have power. He does. He is much stronger, much craftier than we are.

We do not have power against Satan. So do not think that you can go toe to toe against Satan, even as it says in the book of Jude, Michael, the archangel who is more powerful than Satan.

When Satan was contending with the body of Moses, Michael said to him, the Lord rebuke you.

So Michael did not destroy Satan. Michael didn't rebuke him, but the

Lord rebuke you. So if Michael, the archangel cannot do anything against Satan except what the

Lord allows, then we have no power against Satan either. You cannot fool

Satan. He fools you. So how do you escape the schemes of the devil?

You cling to Christ. That's in James chapter four, drawn near to God and he will draw near to you, resist the schemes of the devil and he will flee from you.

That's how we get away from Satan. Don't give into the temptations of your flesh, the temptations of the world, the schemes of Satan drawn near to Christ and Satan will flee from you.

We don't have power against Satan. Satan has power against us, so we must be wise to his ways.

He's got servants around all over the place, disguising themselves just as Satan is as an angel of light.

As we read in first John four, one beloved do not believe every spirit is from God, but test the spirits for there are many false prophets that have gone out into the world.

These false prophets will claim to be of God, but they are of the devil. They will be attractive to you.

They will be interesting. They will be appealing. They will be charismatic. They will gain your attention.

They might even do amazing things and say things that sound compelling, that you're convinced this person must be a man or a woman of God, but they are false teachers.

They are deceitful workers. They disguise themselves as teachers of Christ when they are not.

It is astonishing the number of people these big time false teachers deceive, but they're rich and they are famous and they are influential because they tell people what they want to hear.

As Paul warned Timothy and second Timothy four, three, a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate teachers to suit their own passions who will tickle their itching ears, who will tell them what they want to hear and they will wander from the truth into myths, believing the lie instead of the truth.

Back to second Thessalonians two, it says that God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false and have pleasure in unrighteousness because that's what their flesh wants.

So what they want, those are the teachers they accumulate for themselves. That's who they listen to. That's why these famous teachers are so deceiving.

How is it that Bill Johnson at Bethel church has such a huge following of people? How is it that so many people love

Bethel music and listen to Bethel music and get attracted to that church and are filled with all kinds of false teaching because that's what their flesh wants?

They want to be told you have the power in yourself to heal your own diseases. You have the power in yourself to make something of yourself.

Just say it and it will be so. You have the power to heal other people's sicknesses. You have the power to predict the future.

The reason why you don't have it is because you don't believe hard enough. If you believe, if you sow a seed, if you give us money, if you believe, if you pray this prayer, if you do what it is that we tell you to do, you will unlock all the secrets, all the treasures that God has for you to bestow upon you.

You know who gets rich out of that scheme? The false teacher, not you, but the person who is peddling it.

The only person that benefits from the prosperity gospel is the prosperity preacher and they will have their reward on earth.

What they get on earth, that's all they're going to get because when they stand before God one day, they're not going to hear well done, good and faithful servant.

They're going to hear from Christ what he says in Matthew chapter seven, depart from me. You worker of lawlessness.

I never knew you. They'll say, Lord, didn't we do many mighty works in your name? Jesus says,

I don't know who you are and they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.

Those who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ unto death, they will be saved.

Beware of these false teachers. These who come with these fake miracles. There's no such thing as a faith healer.

Somebody that comes to you claiming that they can heal your back issues, they can heal your cancer just by praying upon you and it will be gone.

They're lying to you. Now I'm not saying that the power of prayer won't change you. You should pray for that, but follow the instruction of what the scripture says.

James chapter five, call the elders of the church to come to you, anoint you with oil and pray over you so that you may be healed.

Confess your sins. See, the false teachers don't ever talk about that kind of thing. It's just believe and receive, name it and claim it like you have the power in yourself.

Your words will manifest your reality, but they lie to you.

They want you to give them money. They'll get rich off of your desires, but you get nothing from it.

That's what these false teachers were doing here in Corinth. They were promising these things to the

Corinthians, not being able to live, to deliver on them. The Corinthians are getting nothing from that, but death, but the promise of destruction because they're following after their own flesh and wanting to have their itching ears tickled.

Meanwhile, these false teachers are getting rich. Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Therefore, it is not surprising if his ministers talking about these most imminent apostles, they're ministers of Satan.

They also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end will correspond according to their deeds.

My friends, I know that Todd White is a nice guy. I get this all the time. When people find my videos where I'm calling out

Todd White as a false teacher, I know he's a nice guy. People will say all the time, he sounds so genuine.

I have heard him preach the gospel. Yeah, but he regularly lies to you. In fact, I'll back up a little bit.

I don't know that I've ever really heard him preach the genuine gospel. There's always something twisted about it. But even if he does say something that might sound like the gospel,

Jesus died for your sins, repent, believe in him, and you too will have eternal life, you know, even something that simple.

He still uses deceptive tactics to win people. There might be elements of truth there, but he promises you things that are lies.

He uses con artist tricks to woo people to Jesus, which he's just winning them to their own fleshly desires, not to Christ himself.

Like the thing that Todd White does where I'm going to straighten out your leg and make it even with the other one so that it will heal your back problems.

Todd White has never healed a single person in his entire life. It's a scam. And he is a deceiver.

He is a minister of Satan. It is not surprising if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their deeds.

Again I say, let no one think me foolish, but if you do receive me even as foolish so that I may boast a little.

Like Paul is saying here, hear what it is that I'm saying. This is foolishness. I should not be doing this and I should not even have to do it for you should just know the truth and not be following after these ministers of Satan.

What I am saying, he says in verse 17, I am not saying according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.

Verse 18, since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also. But what

Paul boasts in are his weaknesses and ultimately to show them that it's in his weaknesses that Christ is strong so that they will see these false apostles have nothing to boast in.

They're boasting in themselves. They have nothing because they don't have Christ. Know the

Lord Jesus Christ. Follow the teachers who are preaching the truth and do not live by lies.

Heavenly father, we thank you for the kindness that you show us. We are sinners.

We go after our own flesh. We go after our own way. We have rebelled against God. We have done wickedness in your sight.

What we deserve is death. And yet you have shown kindness to us by sending your son

Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and rise again from the dead. Whoever believes in him won't perish, but have everlasting life.

May this be the truth that we believe and follow and all the doctrines that flow from that that grow us in Christ likeness and godliness.

May we grow in holiness until the day of the Lord. For as it says in Philippians 1 6, he who began this good work in you will be faithful to complete it at the day of Christ.

It's in his name that we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.