2 Corinthians 11:1-12:13, What’s Your Spiritual Style?

2 corinthians chapter 11 be reading from verse 1 to chapter 12 verse 13 Hear the word of the

Lord. I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness Do bear with me

For I feel a divine jealousy for you since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ But I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived

Eve by his cunning Your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ For if someone comes and proclaims another

Jesus than the one we proclaimed or if you received 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

Indeed, I consider that I am NOT in the least inferior to these Super Apostles, even if I am unskilled in speaking.

I'm not so in knowledge Indeed in every way we have made this plain to you in all things

Or did I commit a sin and humbling myself so that you might be exalted because I preached

God's gospel To you free of charge I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you and when

I was with you and was in need I Did not burden anyone for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need

So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way as the truth of Christ is in me this boasting of mine

Will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia and why because I do not love you

God knows I do and what I do I will continue to do in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in Their boasted mission they worked on the same terms as we do 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 themselves as servants of righteousness

Their end will correspond to their deeds. I Repeat let no one think me foolish

But even if you do accept me as a fool so that I too may boast a little what

I'm saying With this boastful confidence. I say not with the Lord's authority But as a fool since many boast according to the flesh

I too will boast for you gladly bear with fools being wise yourself and for you bear it if someone makes you make slaves of you or devours you or Takes advantage of you or puts on airs or strikes you in the face to my shame

I must say we were too weak for that. But whatever anyone else dares to boast of I'm speaking as a fool

I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am

I are they Israelites so am I are they offspring of Abraham? So am

I are they servants of Christ? I am a better one. I'm talking like a madman

With far greater labors far more imprisonments with countless beatings and often near death five times

I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one three times I was beaten with rods once I was stoned three times.

I was shipwrecked a night in a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys and danger from rivers danger from robbers danger from my own people danger from Gentiles danger in the city danger in the wilderness danger at sea danger from false brothers and toil and hardship through many a sleepless night and hunger and thirst often without food and cold and exposure and apart from other things

There is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches Who is weak and I am not weak who is made to fall?

And I am not indignant If I must boast I will boast of the things that show my weakness

The God and father of the Lord Jesus who is blessed forever knows that I'm not lying

At Damascus the governor under King Eratos was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me

But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands I must go on boasting though.

There is nothing to be gained by it I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up in to the third heaven whether in the body or out of the

Body, I do not know God knows and I know that this man was caught up into paradise whether in the body or out of The body

I do not know God knows and he heard things that cannot be told Which man may not utter on behalf of this man?

I will boast but on my own behalf I will not boast Except of my weakness though if I should wish to boast

I would not be a fool for I would be speaking the truth But I refrained from it so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me so to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations a

Thorn was given me in the flesh a messenger of Satan to harass me to keep me from becoming conceited

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me But he said to me my grace is sufficient for you for my power has made perfect and weakness

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me

For the sake of Christ then I am content with weaknesses insults hardships persecutions and calamities for when

I am weak Then I am strong May the Lord add his blessings to the reading of his

Holy Word Well, are you spiritual you have any spiritual people here Maybe spiritual but not religious

That's a favorite category to be in these days spiritual more concerned than with just material things or just with pleasure

But not part of any organized religion a poll found that 72 percent of those aged 18 to 29

Now like to say quote. I'm spiritual but not religious. The phrase is now so commonplace has even spawned its own acronym

SBN are and a web page SBN are org the advantage of being spiritual but not religious is that we get to choose each in our own way

How to be spiritual like going to the store to try on clothes, you know You can try on a spirituality that is right for you that fits you

That's comfortable for you Not just you know, not something that's that squeezes you anywhere here or there, you know

Like that religion does sometimes it just doesn't fit Spirituality though you can get to fit you after all and the assumption then be that Spiritualities are all pretty much morally equal, right?

You have a spirituality that's good for you. I have one that's good for me We don't judge each other spirituality You wouldn't condemn someone for wearing perfectly fitting slacks just because you'd like to wear loose fitting jeans

Would you just that's their style? I got my style that you got yours So we each have our comfortable spiritual styles and we should each appreciate each other's

Spiritual styles such as the attitude today. Well, what's your spiritual style? You like glory, is that what fits you?

Heaven maybe where you'll go one day so we sing about where we're going not wanting to bitch and where we have to go through to get there and Pretend our faith has no connection at all with earthly matters like money or sex or anything.

That's political So such a person might tell a black person at the door to the church to go elsewhere and then go back into the church

And sing happily I'll fly away or maybe you're more feelings oriented more inward subjective may be mystical so No one has a right to judge me because I'm I'm being spiritual.

I'm in this mystical realm and you don't know nothing about For them glory is experienced now.

It's in the heart. It's usually individualistic Spirituality is just about my personal walk with Jesus, you know, like in the footprints poem

Many people apparently think is actually in the Bible, but it's just the Lord and me walking together on the beach

That's spirituality, right? So the church if we needed at all should help us by offering us just wonderfully uplifting worship experiences

It's certainly not a body that you are Covenanted to or maybe you recognize

Okay, you know, that's just all that's all glory. That's all mystical. That's otherworldly, you know, you have to You have to bear a cross

But it's too hard in this world in this society To bear that cross.

So we what we do is we flee this world We go off to used to be monasteries and convents taking vows of poverty chastity and obedience

Which was the ideal of spirituality for a thousand years Living to prepare to die now, of course, we're

Protestants here, right? So we'll we won't do that. We know better than that so maybe we'll just Create a church culture.

We've just so insulate ourselves from the rest of the world We have nothing to do with it We're always in church So now we homeschool our kids and send them to Christian colleges and we just never have anything to do with anything else

Or maybe if we want to be really spiritual will quote surrender to the call of call of ministry The way they put that surrender.

It's like you're being besieged by a hostile force and you'll surrender wave the white flag I give up or maybe you've got a missions in some poor country and Maybe give up everything or most things to serve the

Lord you think the height of spirituality or maybe last of all Okay, you understand you got to bear a cross and you got to live in this world

Maybe last of all we see we have to serve the Lord in this world with all its demands with its problems

We have to weep at funerals because death is a curse we have to handle its money as God's stewards

We have to stand up against injustices and sometimes bear the brunt of those injustices.

We have to cherish the old rugged cross here and now Those are the spiritualities

Which is your style? What's most comfortable for you? Probably not the last one

That's kind of like wearing a burlap sack or sandpaper Because the one thing you can be sure of the cross is not comfortable

There is a true and false spirituality and here in this passage and really throughout 2nd Corinthians That's basically what 2nd

Corinthians about true and false spirituality Paul shows us here in this passage true

Spirituality Paul shows us had here in three parts from chapter 11 verses 1 to 15 false apostles 2nd from chapter 11 verse 16

To 33 foolish boasting and 3rd from chapter 12 verses 1 to 13 fulfilling grace the first false apostles

In the first half of chapter 11 Paul contrast himself With what he will eventually call by verse 13 false apostles deceitful workmen

Disguising themselves as apostles of Christ and he says they're like Satan himself Who's disguises himself

Satan disguises himself as a is a angel of God an angel of light He says his messengers false apostles.

They do the same thing By the way, some a lot of reform people today when it comes to apostles with our apostles today

Usually the reform way to approach that it's a very kind of academic debate well first to find what a true apostle is and usually it's

Someone in the first century who saw Christ and then therefore the other other people are false.

Okay, maybe that's there's some room for that But I would rather say you you're claiming to be an apostle.

Let's see it in your life Let's see it in the fruit you bear Okay, are you planting churches?

Are you spreading the gospel? Really, are you are you doing it? In a way that brings resistance.

Do you bear opposition? Do you have the kind of suffering Paul talks about in this passage, do you

No, don't tell me you're an apostle You love the title and you want more money for your for the newest private jet you want to buy?

Okay I'm I'm not particularly impressed by that. Maybe you are able to attract large crowds, but that's really not a sign of an apostle

That's just a sign of somebody can attract large crowds You understand here false apostles.

He's been our servants of Satan But what was wrong with them isn't so much that they teach some overt false doctrine if that were the case

Paul would correct the false doctrine like he does with the Galatians or in 1st Corinthians as he did with Them about the resurrection chapter 15 all about correcting their false doctrine

Well here what is wrong with these false apostles is something that's much more slippery Much more difficult to put your finger on to get a hold of There isn't just some plain statement and they're like their statement of faith

You go under the web page of these false apostles. You say, ah, there it is. They say they believe that that's false Was that something like that?

Was there some immorality that they were caught in that you could say out that real Apostles would never do that What is wrong with them is?

Their spirituality not so much what they were preaching But the heart with which they were preaching it

Now not all preachers had to say preach for the right reasons some are businessmen and Some are showmen

People who want to be the big man or the big woman in church They use the church to get to remember last week swagger

Some want a little extra income. They are what Paul called earlier in chapter 2 verse 17 peddlers of God's Word their businessmen their salesmen and That's what these men were doing that there was a demand in their culture in Corinth for impressive speakers

And that was true with the church. They liked impressive speakers and they would pay for it

They met the demand these these false Apostles. They know they met that demand, but they were preaching for the wrong reason

They're worldly people trying to make their living in the world off the church

Some don't have ego. So some don't do it for the money. Some people have well, he's not doing it for the money

Because he may be not getting paid that much but some do it just for the ego Because they want to be the center of attention.

They want the approval Some have spiritualities that tell them that to be really spiritual They have to be preachers and in each of these cases, they are worldly men with minds that That have not become captive to obey

Christ what we talked about last week who are making Themselves out to be something that they are really not they are what he calls in verse 13 deceitful workmen

Deceitful workmen they look like a skilled workman But it's a sham Like the man who says he's a master carpenter says he's had the training

He says he's had the apprenticeship, but he really can't deliver because he's just a smooth talker with a hammer who can't drive a nail straight true spirituality, it's about Taking up your cross if you're following a man who was crucified

Don't be surprised if he shares some crucifixion with you understand if you're following a man who was crucified don't be surprised if he shares some crucifixion with you and That's not just a mystical kind of theoretical otherworldly fuzzy idea sort of a

Feeling of crucifixion Emotional words in a song it finds practical reality in this life you live it here

So the Christian especially the Christian in ministry will suffer it be deprived and rejected

He'll have to tell people what they hate to hear. Maybe that they're they're sinners.

They need to repent sometimes specifically You know like the racism that your church lived with for decades is not a minor sin

It's just kind of well, it's understandable given the culture kind of things you hear around here.

And yes, I know It's true a pastor Would get fired if he tried to say that in a white church in the in the past and they're not that not long distant past here

But that's just what he has to bear That's what he signed up for Not just glory and a paycheck unless of course

He's in it for the money or for the glory Well, then he'll find reasons, you know for whatever to dodge it say well

My church isn't ready for that yet. Yeah, they're not ready for that yet because they're a bunch of servants of Satan like you and Paul says here at the end of verse 15 their end will be what their actions deserve

In other words, they will be judged by God Why? Because they had a spirituality that let them talk and sing about glory

While living as comfortably as they pleased What is bad spirituality look like It's a bad spirituality

Well in verses 14 and 15 Paul tells us that Satan disguises himself to look like an angel in and so do his followers

Satan has bad spirituality. You'll agree with me on that, right? I'm not going out on a limb with that right to say you want the example of bad spirituality

It's Satan, but the thing is he looks like he has good spirituality. He disguises himself as an angel of light.

He looks great Satan's servants are the same way. They're respectable and clean.

Maybe they even wear a tie and Sunday morning So, how can you tell the difference? That's the question.

Paul is trying to teach them and starting at verse 1. He says bear with me I'm gonna do a little I'm gonna do something a little foolish

Of course, it turns out that they're being asked to bear with the same thing Paul is asking them to bear with the same kind of foolishness that they've been bearing from these false

Apostles Understand he's going to boast Paul is going to boast and they've heard a lot of boasting from the false

Apostles That's the first way to tell though the false messenger the deceitful worker the man with a perverted spirituality like Satan makes much of himself the true makes much of Jesus That's the greatest test right there and verse 2

Paul tells them that he has betrothed them To Christ that is through Paul's ministry through the preaching of the gospel

The Corinthians were brought into a committed relationship with Jesus like an engagement

The believer in this world is engaged To Jesus now in their day engagement had had all the weight all the obligations of the marriage itself

Technically you're married just have you just haven't had the wedding yet and moved in together and so forth That is there.

So if you're betrothed you're engaged You're single kind of free status is over But then you don't have the benefits of marriage either

So you you don't have the benefits of singleness and you don't have the benefits of marriage when you're betrothed

And that's the way that's the way Corinthians are here. It's the way we are We are waiting for the wedding for the consummation for the finally living together in other words, it requires the losses of being committed

While not giving you all the privileges yet the cross but not all the glory and That's the situation.

We are in right now But in verse 3 Paul is afraid that they have been led away by he says by cunning

They've been seduced Gradually by the world flirting with the world

Suddenly being drawn away by another lover one who looks like the one they're engaged to But is it really him?

Our devotion to Christ at the end of verse 3. He says be Sincere or the word can be translated just simple just simple devotion is what it is be devoted To Jesus, it's not a code word for something else not just fancy pietistic sounding language disguising empty religion

It is what it is Like it shouldn't be a disguise for something that it's not like the way some people talk about the

Word of God That they in theory they say they believe every word of it. They will defend its inerrancy

God said it I believe it that settles it that kind of slogan, but of course You know, not that stuff about church discipline.

We don't really believe that Not that stuff about election Now, you know, you can't go for that not that stuff about loving your neighbor

Not really it turns out not really much of anything that cramps their style Right.

Typically they have a spirituality that allows them to make a Disconnect between this life that is how the church actually operates how they how they actually live maybe how they handle their money

Maybe their sex life. Maybe their politics whatever it is and what they say they believe This has no connection with each other their spiritual style allows them to glory in saying one thing, you know, trust

God I'm free from the spirit of fear, but then huddle down You know because there's a virus out there and and do nothing

And do another as you say one hand the glory on the other hand they do whatever it is

They please it may has no connection with each other and that's being the opposite of verse 3 an insincere muddled

Spirituality true spirituality is simple. It is what it is I'm going to love Jesus.

He said love my neighbor as myself. I Don't care if he's black and the whole rest of the South says treat them worse

I don't care if I'm a pastor that the Deacons are gonna fire me if I integrate the church Or maybe the

Lord looks to those he says in Psalm 15 who keep their word to their own hurt So I'm gonna keep my word

I'm gonna keep my commitments even if everyone else in this culture says and you don't really have to keep your word You know only the marriage vows are real commitments.

And of course, they don't even really keep those that's simple devotion there's no clever little loopholes that let us say we say we love

Jesus and then Let us get along comfortably with the world That doesn't

Our commitment he also says is to be pure that is unmixed with other motives pure water is 100 % h2o

Pure devotion to Jesus is pure Commitment to him. It's not mixed with With something else other intentions looking after my bottom line

You know, I if I can if I can be a good religious person I can prosper better The devil tries to cleverly deceive us away from commitment to Jesus not by replacing it all right away

Because that's hardly ever gonna work You know here you're gonna Satan doesn't come say here's

Jesus or you can have lots of money and pleasure and wealth He tried that with Jesus himself, right didn't work with him

But he doesn't usually come to us that way but but trying to seduce us away from it

Gradually gradually to dilute it serve something else Maybe give a little time to Jesus, but you give a little time to to serving mammon

You can serve God and mammon. He says all the time, right? Gradually gradually just a little bit of something really about ourselves

Instead of Jesus add in just at 1 % Pursuing mammon 2 % 5 % and it grows diluting our

Devotion to Christ false spirituality is about another Jesus in verse 4. Oh, they say they're talking about Jesus Like the

Mormons who say they are Christians I'll say just look up the name of our church the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day

Saints How could it be any plainer they say but they're obviously talking about another Jesus a Jesus whose status now

His status now you can acquire The glory talk about glory you can acquire

Jesus a status if you just followed the steps of their religion That is just as Jesus rules over this planet

You can have a planet to to rule over Well, if you're a man you women sorry You got to find a man to attach to the the offer is you could have so much glory, but that's that's easy

I mean as far as detecting false doctrine discernment doesn't take a whole lot of discernment to figure out, you know

That's another Jesus. That's all wrong. These men here. We're talking about anything

Nearly as doctrinally off base as that fact. It's not at all clear that they were saying anything doctrinally false

They were saying something spiritually false They had the same spirit In a ways is the

Mormons though, you know, you're gonna have glory now The the Jesus they were proclaiming was all about glory glory for them

No need to take up a cross and and that is another Jesus and Paul says in verses 5 and 6 that even if he's not as properly trained in rhetoric as they are

He's not the lofty orators. It's not as entertaining a speaker as they are. He's not inferior to them.

Oh It's foolish to have to say it He says he's like cringing inside to have to say it because it should be obvious to them

But he has to say it you want to know the difference between the true and the false Then compare me with them.

He says Sure, I don't have the swagger. They do I Would have points deducted by a professor of homiletics

That's preaching for violating some of the academic principles of sound public speaking Paul admits

But look at the difference the difference is that they charged and Paul doesn't and Here's a testimony to how really

I think you think about it how good and impressive what swagger these false teachers these false

Apostles must have had I mean think about it. They could charge the Corinthians money and Make them think less of Paul Because he did not charge them money

I mean imagine that what a great salesman you had to be to pull that off when you can get people to pay you and Then make them think you are doing them a favor by paying you and to resent the one who won't be paid

But if you can do that, you are a champion salesman. That's just amazing sales and they were doing it

Paul knew here that in Corinth. It was a culture of oratory of Showmanship, they love to sit around and and listen to people talk well and that breeds a spirituality

It's all about showmanship Not reality and Paul decides that this is too much of a threat to the life of the church

He's not gonna play along with it. He did not take their money and that's interesting because You remember last year we did went through first Corinthians He argued forcefully and first Corinthians chapter 9 that he and others have a right to pay

Just by the way, some people try to make this point Well, Paul didn't believe ministers should be paid. No, the very opposite is true at first Corinthians 9 he's just absolutely clear and repetitive and I'm emphatic about it that the one who preaches the gospel has a right to make his living by the gospel

So he absolutely believe that is a principle in the church that the preaching elders should be paid by the church here

He would not take it. Why? Because he wanted to show them that he wasn't just another talker for hire that he meant every word

He said, you know, he did not make tense Because he thought the preacher shouldn't be paid

That wasn't what was going on. He did it here in Corinth fact here He says he robbed other churches and he doesn't mean literally robbed him

He mean he took money from other churches like the Macedonian churches so that he could be Financially supported in Corinth because just like today, you know, he's got bills to pay he's got to eat

And so he took money from other churches so that he could minister to the Corinthians So he did take pay even while in Corinth just not from them because he wanted to prove to them a lesson

He did it to prove to them that he wasn't a rent -a -preacher and they resented him for it it challenged their spirituality

They were super apostles who spoke much about themselves who loved to be the big men in church

And so they look for ways to woo them away from Paul He was a threat to their business after all, you know, they they look at Paul He's not taking any money in there

They're taking a lot and they think and they're afraid those the Corinthians will start to think what well Maybe we can get away with not paying you

So they want to undermine Paul his refusal to be paid showed the Corinthians if they just wake up and think about it

That if if these false apostles if they wouldn't get paid think about it.

You don't pay them They won't preach and so Paul and so how much does that show that they really believe what they're saying?

And so Paul declares in verse 12 that he's going to continue to refuse to take their money So that they can the

Corinthians can see the difference. What's the difference? There's spirituality the difference in between the spirituality of Paul and these false apostles

The spirit the spirituality these false apostles the way they talk about themselves The way they handle money the way they deal with suffering.

Oh They love to boast So Paul next plunge is actually finally he's been building up throughout chapter 11 to to boasting he began let bear with me a little foolishness and then for like the first 15 verses he's still

Working to get there and then finally in the second half of the chapter. He throws himself into what he calls this foolish boasting

These false apostles foolishly boast so to show the Corinthians that he actually had more to boast about Than the false apostles he decides to join them

In the foolish boasting. Oh, you think you have a lot to talk about about yourself Let me let me talk about myself some see how we compare

You know last week I told you about how I decided you know one track practice to put a teammate with swagger

He thought he should always be in the lead to put him in his place Now a rule of track practice is that you don't race in track practice.

You don't race each other It's foolish because you know, you'll wear yourself out you race for one mile

And then you'll have another mile to run soon after that. So it's just foolish, but I believe that in order to put it into mr

Swags foolish racing in practice. I had to race him.

I was going to show him that he shouldn't race By racing him and that's what

Paul is doing here He wants to put an end to this culture of boasting This culture of the of lifting up oneself, you know all about what

I've experienced. I've done I felt I've seen I've heard Be careful of preachers who talk a lot about themselves now

I know people like entertaining personal stories, especially about my track career I mean who doesn't love to hear all about that for hours on end?

But the preacher the true preacher should have just just so much more to talk about Than himself, but here in order for Paul to to show them the difference

He has to to do what is normally Foolish he has to boast about himself

Well sort of in Chapter 11 verses 16 to 33 Paul really has it both ways

He manages both to boast and to humble himself The one he consistently humbles though is the

Corinthians if if they're not gonna if they're not gonna take up their own cross These Corinthians if they're not gonna take up their cross

Well, he's gonna give them one and he does that with increasing biting severe

Unapologetic pure stinging Sarcasm I Mean, there's simply no way to interpret or say some of these verses without admitting that second half of chapter 11

That they are incredibly sarcastic like verse 19 For you gladly bear with fools being wise yourself

You know, no matter how you say it thing with written word is it's hard to tell the tone But try to find a tone that that comes through is not sarcastic

You can try for you gladly bear with fools being wise yourself

You still can't get away from the sarcasm, but you gladly bear with fools big wise yourself Or for you gladly bear with fools big wise yourself

You know, no matter how you cut it It's just can't get away from the sarcasm the worst one of all I think chapter 12 verse 13

For what were you less favored than the rest of the churches except that I myself did not burden you

Forgive me this wrong. In other words Excuse me for not billing you

Now remember Paul is deeply committed to these people This is not like a hit -and -run swipe at some people

He hardly knows and will never see face to face and this too is part of what separates the real thing

Like Paul from these rent -a -preachers who were they were so impressed by a preacher for hire

Is it gonna talk to you like this because he's afraid you might not pay him anymore Only someone who seriously wants you to wake up to grow up to stop fooling yourself

It's gonna do this Now you might think well I could never do that fine,

I Don't think most Christians have to this is Paul. He's an apostle He's he's not always, you know

Not everything he does we can do or should do most don't have to outboast the boastful Most don't have to be more overbearing to the overbearing

Most of my teammates and the track team didn't have to try to outrace. Mr. Swag in practice

I did the true Christians leader simply must be willing to do Unpleasant things to unpleasant people or else those people will make life unpleasant for everyone

In verses 28 and 29 Paul reveals something of the burden of leadership as the the burning

The word they're translated as indignant who's not fallen. I'm not indignant literally means that I was not burning

The burning you feel when the sheep are preyed on by some predator some false apostle selling spiritual snake oil

The true Christian leader burns and will do what he has to do to stop it if that's not your thing

If you don't think you can do that fine Then take your place with the rest of the pack and support your leaders when they have to do what they have to do

From verses 21 to 33 Paul outboasts the boastful is foolish

But they forced him to do it. He says later in chapter 12 verse 11. It's foolish to race in practice But mr.

Swag forced me to do it. Most of this is not only self -explanatory It's between beginning in chapter 12 verse 1 most the end of chapter 11 most of it's not only self -explanatory

But we wouldn't know many of these things about Paul if not for this brief list of boast

Many of these things aren't aren't even listed for us in acts Which tells us there's a lot more about Paul's life that we really don't know about probably won't know about until You know the resurrection here.

He boasts of Of the same ancestry and heritage as these false Apostles He says in verse 23 that they say they say they are servants of Christ He insists

I am a better one and he cringes at having to write something. So Boastful, I must be out of my mind.

He says He works harder than they do and then here's a strange thing These false

Apostles weren't it for the money For the glory for the royal treatment they were getting But now

Paul starts to boast about the very thing these these other men couldn't stand Suffering Who boasts about suffering?

It's what he does says. I've had far more imprisonments. They probably had none actually So even one would be more than they had

I've had far more than prisonments so many beatings I can't count them all some judicial beatings That is corporal punishments administered by judges five times from the

Jews three times from the Gentiles with rods We only know of one of those and acts of the beating and Philippi once they stoned me.

What an odd thing to boast about Who applies for a job and immediately starts talking about his prison record, you know, they're long rap sheet

Yeah, I've I've served time in five states and there are warrants out for my arrest and seven others You know what?

You boast about that, but that's what he boasts of the cross Experienced in this life the peddlers of false spirituality boasted in their glory

Paul boasts of his Humiliation the Romans had a special award given to a soldier who was the first over a wall into the city

When they were besieging one the first soldier who's brave enough to go over the wall if he survived,

I guess We get some kind of trophy award a medal or whatever Paul has to boast about being let out of a city over a wall in the basket.

You don't get any trophy for that We want to boast in our trophies in our crowns, especially in our day

We want to boast in glory and success successful churches almost always it seems boast about their numbers

The number of attendees the numbers in their budget the number of campuses They have how much money they spent on their building and sure for us

It would be nice if we could have a grand respectable or traditional church building, you know with pews and all that stained -glass

It would be nice if we were successful by worldly standards if we were big and popular and wealthy

But don't let that ever be where our glory is at our glory Is in the cross

So Paul goes on to list from verse 25 all that the cross has meant to him

This is what it is. It's not just a lyrics and a song. It's not just a feeling This is what it was like in his life.

He really experienced three times He says from verse 25 three times up a shipwrecked funny for Max. We all know of once Three times he was shipwrecked a night in a day

I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys and danger from rivers danger from robbers Danger from my own people danger from Gentiles danger in the city danger in the wilderness

Danger at sea danger from false brothers and toil and hardship through many a sleepless night and hunger and thirst

Often without food and cold and exposure Okay, you can go through that You plant churches spread the gospel then we could talk about you being an apostle.

All right, just beside the point Well, that's what he boasted. That's the cross Oh, but you say it was all worth it, you know for the success the glory of the church how they encouraged him

I think just relieved all his suffering all the time But he says in verse 28 not only all that suffering but the daily pressure because of my anxiety his concerns

His burden for the church if someone is weak some church members of Christian.

He says I feel their weakness Someone stumbles into sin He says

I smolder with fear fear for them for their judgment. They could face and Anguish that they be saved it doesn't sound like Paul's idea of the church

Is to put on a show for religious consumers for wonderfully uplifting worship experiences

Does it? From chapter 12 verse 1 Paul says he must go on boasting.

He must outboast the boastful boasting in the cross and now boasting in fulfilling

Grace a grace so sufficient So fulfilling you're content with it

Even if it means bearing a cross The boastful boast of their glory of their dreams of their visions their experiences

They talk about mystical things and so too can Paul, but it pains him too much to boast About that even now, you know all this he's out boasting the boastful it even but with this talking in chapter 12

He just can't bear To do it in the first person. Anyway, he was obviously talking about himself

He says I know a man in Christ Who's experienced this he's afraid that he says they will they will think too highly of him

How do you think too highly of Paul? That would be very difficult to think too highly of Paul But Paul is determined that they not do that and there's really wasn't their problem, but he's determined they not do it

So he says I know a man in Christ now clearly it's himself because it's starting in verse 7 He's he's the one who has to be given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from being conceited by the revelation that he got

Understand he can outboast the false Apostles their great boast of visions one of the in the past several years has been to at least one or two people that claim to have gone in heaven to Heaven either because they died or when came back to life or had some kind of vision and that just sells a lot of books people just love that kind of thing and Paul here's had something like that and think about it.

This is the end near the end of 2nd Corinthians He's written at least one other letter we know of and he's just now mentioning it to them

You understand all this interaction he's had with them He's lived there for like a year and a half and they don't know anything about this great experience.

He had All this time. He's never mentioned it Because he was a boasting they've never known why up until now

That he's had this thorn in the flesh, whatever it is. They probably thought less of him for it He did miracles on others

But he couldn't do the miracle of ridding himself of This thorn of the flesh if he had enough faith,

I bet you the false apostle I bet you almost anything these false Apostles were saying have Paul had enough faith, you know

He'd be able to get rid of that problem. We should pray for dear old brother Paul because he obviously

He's he's kind of weak and carnal because he can't get rid of that thorn Whatever it was heal his eye

Stop the harassment from the Jews, whatever it was after all in this life They were saying, you know in this life, we're supposed to get glory.

There's no cross. So Paul's suffering that must be his problem Of course, he says no now finally

He tells them I have this thorn to keep me humble because I heard such great revelations

Something no mortal was allowed to repeat that I'm now I'm tempted to think I'm someone special So the

Lord gave me through Satan a messenger to harass me To be a cross

I have to bear a messenger literally could be translated as an angel of Satan a demon

Interesting here, by the way side point that means the demon messenger of Satan Was under the

Lord's control the Lord gave me messenger of Satan He's in control of it a thorn in the flesh is anything the

Lord allows in our life to keep us from being conceited It's an affliction in this life, but it only works

If we have a spirituality that allows us to see it as the Lord Giving us the cross if we recognize we need it

We understand he's sovereign that this thing that we hate in our life. Whatever it is Is under his control and that he's using it

You understand that he's sovereign over it. Whatever it is could be physical health the loss of a loved one

It only has its effect We understand that he's in control of it and he's using it for what he wants out of it here

Even the demons do his bidding if we're mystical now, we're just living in a world that's detached from the Lord We we could refuse to see it

We could refuse to quote claim it as those say who believe that their words control the universe rather than God's Word But if we see a sovereign

God who is working in this life We'll know he is sharing his cross with us

Because if you follow a man who was crucified Don't be surprised

When he shares some crucifixion with you Right now we have things to bear that keep us from conceit and make us dependent

Three times Paul says interesting three times He pleaded with the Lord to take it away just like the

Lord Jesus asked the father three times to take this cup Which was then literally the cross take this cup of the cross from me

Jesus asked three times Paul asked three times But the father responds to Paul my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect It reaches its end it reaches the intention the result it was intended for it's made perfect in In glory in triumph here and now in extravagant wealth

No in weakness That's the end the perfect intention of our weakness of our

Of his cross in our life that spirituality is to be burdened abused to suffer

But to be content with grace Content not because we pretend well, whatever the suffering whatever it is.

Is it is it real? That we're somehow detached from it. We can rise in a mystical latitude just above this life

It's nothing to do with her with real life No, it is real but because we experience something greater now true spirituality weeps at death

It's lonely when someone is lost it feels the value of a dollar But gives it anyway

It burns it injustice and will work to change it and yet true spirituality is content in All of that it knows that there is something sufficient beyond the grave it may weep at funerals

But it still doesn't grieve like the heathen who have no hope it still has hope there something so sufficient

It is willing finally to give generously Because it knows the things of this world are not sufficient

There's something so sufficient that it is willing to stand up for what is right even if it means having to suffer here and now these things we suffer now are real and They're under God's control and sometimes they hurt the death the loneliness

The things that we could have bought but now we can't because we gave instead the abuse we get for standing up But there is something so much greater that is is sufficient even now even before glory and that thing

It's sufficient is grace Fulfilling grace

Sure, we want the sweetness. We want the victorious life the mountaintops the success want the nice facilities

Without the cross, but it's not to be not yet now We have the cross not

Not just as a sort of a dreadful necessity but as something we actually boast in because it is through the cross that we finally see our

Powerlessness, we see how deeply and darkly Sinful that we are that we are weak and that we can be content in that weakness we can be content with insults and hardships and persecutions and calamities and Losses and not having some things

We can be we can be content because it's when we're weak in this life in this world now

It's when we're weak Then we're strong It's when we're weak

When we're insufficient then We're given a grace