WWUTT 1701 As You Are of Christ So Are We (2 Corinthians 10:7-12)

Paul had a pretty powerful word to speak to the churches. It was the gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God for salvation to all who believe.

But to those false teachers, he had a powerful word for them too when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily study in the word of Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study in 2 Corinthians 10.

And picking up where we left off last week, I'm going to start here in verse 7 and go through verse 13 out of the

Legacy Standard Bible. This is the word of the Lord through the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth.

You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is

Christ's, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is

Christ's, so also are we. For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority, which the

Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame, for I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.

For they say, his letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is weak and his words contemptible.

Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also indeed when present.

For we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves, but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.

But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the area of influence which

God apportioned to us as a measure to reach even as far as you.

Now once again to recap what's going on here, the context of what Paul is talking about here in 2

Corinthians 10, we're in that last section of 2 Corinthians, which is going to go from chapters 10 to 13, to the end of the letter.

And Paul is confronting the false teachers here that are wooing some of the

Corinthians away from the truth. Remember that to follow Paul is to follow the gospel, all right, it's not the same thing as saying that to put faith in Paul is to be for your salvation, and it's not what

I'm saying here. But Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ, so what

Paul said was the word of Christ as given to Paul to proclaim it to the world and to the churches.

Paul is talking about his authority here as an apostle. He's making a reference to the fact that he has been appointed by Christ to carry the word of Christ.

There's all these false teachers, these men who call themselves apostles, but they are false that have been proclaiming things to the

Corinthians and convincing some of them. So Paul is going to make a very impassioned appeal here in this last section of the letter that goes all the way to the end of the letter.

In this last section, he's going to make a very impassioned appeal for the Corinthians, for the hearts of the

Corinthians, and even to the point where he will boast about himself, though he does this rather tongue -in -cheek, and we'll talk about that when we get to the boasting section, which is there in chapter 11.

But in the meantime here, Paul is making arguments that are in the spirit of God that will destroy any of these lofty claims that the false teachers have made.

So let's go back a little bit to that first section of chapter 10, verses 1 through 6. I'm going to pick up in verse 3.

Paul says, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. Paul's saying, though we are just men, talking about himself, any of the other apostles.

We're just men. We walk in the flesh, but we do not war according to the flesh. Verse 4, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the tearing down of strongholds.

As we tear down speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

So Paul is talking about these false teachers. What they proclaim is lofty.

It's not really above God, but they think that it is. They think that their knowledge is superior to that of the apostles, the true apostles.

And so Paul says, the weapons that we have, the true apostles of Jesus Christ, their weapons are divine, divinely powerful for the tearing down of these false words, tearing down every lofty thing that's raised up against the knowledge of God and taking every thought captive and doing this out of obedience to Christ.

Now Paul is an apostle when he does this, of course, but there's a responsibility even that pastors have to do this.

A pastor is not the same kind of authoritative position as an apostle. A pastor is going to proclaim what the apostles proclaimed, but he's not receiving new revelation.

You know, it's not Christ speaking to the pastor. And so now here's a new word to you that you won't find in the

Bible. Such a pastor would be a false teacher in that case. A pastor is teaching what is in the

Old Testament and the new and pointing all things to Christ Jesus. A pastor is caring for the flock of God because that's what pastor means.

It's a shepherd. So he is tending the flock and doing so with the word of Christ.

Even a pastor has a responsibility to fend off wolves, to warn the flock against those who are speaking falsely, who are not proclaiming according to the word of Christ, but proclaiming according to their own knowledge.

So one of the requirements of a pastor, according to Titus 1 .9, is that he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may give instruction in sound doctrine and also rebuke those who contradict it.

That's one of the requirements of a pastor written down right there in Titus 1 .9. And so even a pastor, even a teacher of God's word, has a responsibility to tear down every lofty thing that's raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive, right?

Every thought that comes from the mind of man, everything that would be worldly, any philosophy, any other kind of religion.

Take those thoughts captive. Point out the errors. Show what

God's word says. Here's the truth so that a person may see that what this false teacher is proclaiming is not the truth.

And so taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, it is out of obedience to Jesus that we call out false teachers and remind people of the truth of what

God has said according to his word. And Paul goes on in verse 6 to say, we are ready to punish all disobedience whenever your obedience is fulfilled.

Now this is certainly an apostolic claim here. So Paul, as an apostle, is going to come and punish those who are teaching falsely.

And we have seen occasions in scripture where false teachers are rebuked and will even die because of the false message that they proclaimed.

I think of two stories, two successive stories in Acts chapters 12 and 13.

In Acts 12, Herod had imprisoned Peter and meant to put him to death, but an angel of God released

Peter from his chains and he just walked right out of the prison, walked past the guards and everything. Remember that story?

Then at the end of the chapter, Herod is proclaiming himself as a God. The people are even saying of him that he has the voice of a

God and not of a man. So an angel of the Lord, not sure if it was the same angel as the one that released

Peter from prison, but anyway, an angel struck Herod and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last right there on the spot because he opposed the gospel and exalted himself as a

God. Then a few verses later, we just continue on into the next story in Acts chapter 13,

Paul and Barnabas are preaching the gospel at Cyprus and there's a proconsul there who is listening to their message.

A proconsul is just a governor of Rome, but he's got an advisor to him who is a magician.

His name is Bar -Jesus in some translations, Elimus in others, Elimus the magician.

He opposed Paul and Barnabas because he did not want the proconsul to listen to what it was that they were preaching.

But Paul filled with the Holy Spirit said to Elimus, you who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness.

Will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? Now behold, the hand of the

Lord is upon you and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time and immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being astonished at the teaching of the

Lord. Amen to that. So you have the death of Herod in chapter 12 because he opposed the gospel and exalted himself as being a

God. And then you have this curse that comes upon Elimus because he opposed the gospel.

Paul rebukes him and then he's stricken blind and he would remain blind for the rest of his days.

Meanwhile, the proconsul would believe the word of the Lord and he would become a Christian. And so as Paul is speaking here in second

Corinthians 10 about the power he has as an apostle of Jesus Christ, this should cause those lofty false apostles to tremble in their sandals.

When Paul says that we're going to come to you with power, if there's not repentance, if there's not turning away from these false teachers and we will, we will tear down every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.

We will punish all disobedience. When your obedience is fulfilled.

So, so you might even see the contrast there between Elimus and the proconsul.

The Elimus was disobedient. He was punished. The proconsul was obedient to the call of the gospel and he believed and so this was fulfilled in him that he comes to salvation in Jesus Christ.

So now in second Corinthians 10, we go on to verse seven. Paul says, you are looking at things as they are outwardly.

Now, this is a reference to those false teachers, those super apostles who are decked out and looking fine, right?

They wear the flashiest clothing. They've got the flashiest smiles. They've got those letters of recommendation that Paul had talked about earlier in the letter.

Well, we don't need letters of recommendation to you. You are our letters of recommendation.

You have come to believe in the gospel because we had proclaimed it to you. So, you know, the authenticity of what it is that we have preached because you've been transformed by it is what

Paul is saying to the Corinthians. But these guys are coming in with, with these flashy duds. They're looking like most of the philosophers that will come in to these towns and try to win people over with their lofty speech, with their grandiose and charismatic orations.

And so the Corinthians that are wooed by this, that are convinced by it, they're looking at things as they are outwardly.

Paul says, if anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is

Christ's, so are we, right? If they truly belong to Christ, then they're going to understand the apostles truly belong to Christ.

And as I said earlier, to follow an apostle's teaching is to follow Christ's teaching. It's not to look at Paul and think of him as a savior.

Paul would certainly not want that. It is to look at Paul and realize that he is sent by Christ and the word that he speaks is

Christ's word. And so to follow his teaching is to follow Christ's teaching.

There is no separation between Jesus' words in red in the gospels and the words that Paul writes in his letters or Peter writes in his letters or John writes in his letters.

They're all the word of Christ, the red letters in the gospels and the black letters in the rest of the new

Testament. Incidentally, even all the words in the old Testament, all of this is the word of Christ.

Jesus said in Matthew 5, 18, truly, I say to you until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.

It is all his word. It's all important. All of the Bible is important from Genesis 1 to Revelation chapter 22.

We need to read all of it and pay attention to all of it and follow it as it is

God's word. And so Paul is saying that to the Corinthians here. If you're of Christ, you're going to know that we're of Christ.

But if you're not of Christ, you're going to follow people that are not of Christ. John warned about this.

First John four, one beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this, you know, the spirit of God, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming.

And now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is he than he who is in the world.

They are from the world. Therefore, they speak as from the world and the world hears them.

We are from God. The one who knows God hears us.

The one who is not from God does not hear us from this.

We know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. So Paul is making that same kind of appeal here to the

Corinthians. If you are of God, then you're going to listen to those who have been sent by God.

But if you're not of Christ, then you're not going to follow those who have been appointed by Christ.

So as you are of Christ, so also are we. Verse 8. For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority, which the

Lord gave for building you up and not tearing you down, I will not be put to shame. Why is

Paul an apostle? So that he would go proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the

Gentiles, to all the nations, for the building of the church.

Every single person that turns from sin and idolatry to the Lord Jesus Christ and follows him, that is another person that has been added to the church and the church grows.

So the declaration of the gospel is for building up the church, not just the declaration of the gospel to unbelievers, but even to believers.

For we grow in this sanctification to grow in godliness and Christ likeness.

As we grow in these things, the church is growing, growing in number, growing in maturity.

So the word of an apostle is meant for the building up. An apostle doesn't come in to become a wrecking ball and just tear a bunch of people down.

Otherwise, the apostles are walking into towns and they're proclaiming who's going to die because they're not elect.

So all of you drop dead. You're not elect anyway. You know, they're dead. All of you, you're the elect.

So you're saved. So there you go. If that was what Christ intended with the apostles, then that's how they would go proclaiming their message.

But that's not what it was that they did. They went proclaiming for the building up of the church.

Jesus is the one who is going to sort out who's truly of the faith and who's not. That's the judgment we have that is mentioned to us in Matthew chapter 25, where he separates the sheep from the goats.

The goats go on his left hand and the sheep go on his right. OK, that sorting is what Jesus is going to do at his return.

But that's not what the apostles did with their proclamation of the gospel. You are unbelievers.

So you go over here. You are the ones who are going to come to faith. They proclaim the gospel for the building up of the church, and they continued to teach to build up the church.

The work of an apostle was for the service of Christ church, not to become the pope and sit over the church and say, do what it is that I say and everything that I say is the word of God and I am the head of you.

No apostle did that. And there was no apostle that was more important than the other. They were all in service to Christ for the building up of the church.

And so Paul says in this work, I will not be put to shame, for I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.

Paul is not writing his letters to tear them down, to terrify them. He's doing this to build them up.

Even this appeal that Paul is making right here is not to terrify the Corinthians. It's so that they would rejoice in the truth.

Come back to the truth once again and rejoice in this. And you have no fear of the judgment of God if you are walking in the message that was proclaimed to you at the first, the gospel that came to you in the beginning.

For Paul goes on to say in verse 10, for they say they're talking about the he's talking about the false teachers here.

They say his letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is weak and his words contemptible.

Another way this is worded in the English Standard Version, it says his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is of no account.

So Paul was apparently not all that impressive in person. Now, now don't take that, though, as meaning that that Paul was not an impressive individual.

He very much was. He was an expert debater. He could out -debate anybody, kind of like watching

R .C. Sproul in his debates. It was almost like he couldn't lose to anyone. Well, except for John MacArthur in the baptism debate.

I think MacArthur won that one. But if you've ever listened to like a Sproul and Gerstner's mock debates, those are really entertaining to listen to.

Sproul could take the opponent's position as well as the proponent's position.

He was very, very skilled, very gifted in that. So listening to somebody like Sproul debate might have been something similar to what

Paul would have sounded like, just because we have that statement about him here that his letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is of no account.

Understand who that's coming from. This is the claim of the false teachers. So, of course, they're going to try to convince the

Corinthians that Paul is nothing special compared to them now compared to the flashiness and the charisma of these false teachers.

Yeah, Paul probably didn't have it. He was a rock star among the Pharisees. So you couldn't write

Paul off as being some wimpy or weak individual. He was just as strong in his presence, which is the argument he's going to make here in just a moment.

He was just as strong in his physical presence as he was in the letters that he wrote. But he just probably didn't have the kind of charisma that one would expect compared to these other philosophers.

We tend to think of Apollos being a better orator than Paul. And that was probably true.

The Corinthians preferred Apollos to Paul because he was a better public speaker. Now, of course, that preference was according to the flesh.

That was not a healthy spiritual preference. But anyway, just goes to say that Paul was not the best speaker in the world.

But you shouldn't write him off as anyone weak or contemptible. It's the word that we have here in 2

Corinthians 10, 10, Paul, verse 11 to say, let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent such persons, we are also indeed when present.

If you consider the words of my letters strong, then you will consider the deeds that I perform in your presence to be just as spirit filled.

And once again, that's that's something that should make the false teachers tremble in their sandals.

What is Paul going to do when he gets here? What sort of rebuke will we face? What sort of punishment will come upon us because of the false words that we have proclaimed?

So Paul says in verse 12, for we do not dare to classify ourselves or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves.

But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.

So Paul's argument here is we've been appointed by Christ. They've been appointed by themselves.

And so consider the word of Paul. Consider the word of an apostle is to follow the word of Christ.

Any other teacher's word is going to be a false word. Let's finish there with prayer.

And and we'll come back to 2 Corinthians 10 tomorrow. Heavenly Father, give us a spirit of discernment that we may understand the truth from error.

We know the gospel of Jesus Christ, he who died on a cross for our sins and rose again from the dead, and whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

And we test all things according to the true word that has been given to us in the

Bible, so that we may live according to your name and live with you forever.

It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the

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