It's always such a joy to come together and to sing those songs of redemption, amen? But music is not designed in a church service to induce worship, but to express it, and the pinnacle of our time of worship is to humble ourselves before the preaching and the teaching and the application of the Word of God. So with that in mind, let's take our Bibles and turn once again to Second Corinthians. We are in chapter 11; we will be looking at verses seven through 15, and also glancing down at verse 20. Second Corinthians 11, beginning in verse seven, as we continue to make our way through this epistle, follow along as I read the text that the Lord has provided for us.

"Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?

I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you;

and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia, they fully supplied my need, and in everything, I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.

As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of a 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 regarded 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. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

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

We've all been scammed in our life, have we, not? I think of that commercial - I don't know what they're selling or advertising necessarily, but I think it has something to do with getting the scoop on the car that you buy and you find out that you got took and so they're wearing a sack over their head with the little eyes and the little, you've probably seen that. I have felt that way before, after being scammed. Some people probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus, but that's a scam, right? But in truth, dear friends, we must admit this, that we are all, by nature, gullible. We are all vulnerable to deception. We are easily duped, and that is why scripture is filled with passages that warn us, saying, "Do not be deceived." Even the Lord said that we are to pray "lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." Why? Because we are so easily tempted, and because the evil one is so incredibly brilliant with his seductions. Jesus said in Matthew 26:41, "'Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.'"

Even as believers, we are vulnerable to deception. Certainly, the unregenerate are much more so, because they are alienated from God, we read in Scripture; they're alienated from the truth. Ephesians chapter four and verse 18 says that, "...being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness."

I was thinking about all of the scams that we have been involved with over the past few years in our country; political scams that come out of Washington, and the way the fake news preys upon the ignorant and the naive. We had the Russian collusion hoax for I don't know how many years, remember that? Man made global warming; fear mongering associated with covid. We've been told that white people are inherently racist and that police love to target black people to kill them; that there's systemic racism in every institution; that some men are actually women, and some women are actually men. We are told that biology no longer determines gender. We are told that socialism will not lead to totalitarianism. We are told that violently dismembering an unborn infant is not murder, and people believe these things. No wonder Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 9:3, "The hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives." You will recall what Jesus said in John eight, beginning in verse 43, "'Why do you not understand what I am saying?'" And he answers the question, "'It is because you cannot hear My Word. You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.'" In Second Corinthians four and verse four, we are told that, "...the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ..."

But, even as believers, we're constantly warned to be on guard, because we're all vulnerable. In our Lord's Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and verse 24 he warns us, saying, "'For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance.'" And the Apostle Paul tells us, in Ephesians four beginning in verse 14, that he is given to the church, Pastor, teachers, and as a result, "...we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming..." And in Ephesians 6:11, that great passage that has to do with the believer’s armor, he says, "Put on the full armor of God..." Why? "That you may be able to stand firm against the schemes," that is, the cunning deceptions, "of the devil." First John four, verse one, we're warned, "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." That was in the first century, just think how it is now. It goes on in First John five, beginning in verse 19, "We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children..." referring to believers, “...guard yourselves from idols."

The warnings for discernment are everywhere. But dear friends, Satan's most ingenious deceptions are employed in the realm of religion. Think of the billions of people that worship gods that don't even exist. Think of the billions of people that claim promises that God never made. Think of the billions of people that invent false gospels based on human merit rather than the all sufficient finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Think of the people, even today, that are promoting gospels based upon some political agenda, the social gospel in particular, and like the false apostles who had crept in the church at Corinth, self appointedheretical pastors are filling pulpits this very day.

As a footnote, I want you. To understand that although you will hear from time to time about "apostles," authentic apostles, no longer exist today. They no longer exist today. The biblical criteria for apostleship makes that clear. Let me remind you of that before we embark upon this study, New Testament apostles, according to Scripture, had to be chosen by God, and they were chosen by God before they were even born. But then in life, they were hand selected by God incarnate, the Lord Jesus, Christ. Mark 31:4, and Luke 6:13. As Jesus said in John 15:16, "'You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit.'" And certainly, they were the revelatory agents of the Most High God.

Secondly, an apostle had to be a physical eyewitness to the resurrected Christ. Acts 1:22, 10:39 through 41, First Corinthians 9:1, chapter 15 verses seven through eight. I want to give those to you, in case you want to look them up.

And then, thirdly, they had to be able to perform the signs of an apostle being authenticated by miraculous quote, "...signs and wonders and mighty works." Second Corinthians 12:12. Now in the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church, papacy claimed apostolic authority through a supposed line of succession all the way back to Peter, and they still do that to this day, resulting in basically a corrupt, autocratic, totalitarian system that has killed untold millions of true believers over the centuries. And even in the 20th century, elements of the charismatic movement attempted to revive the apostolic office. They operate under the false premise that everything that occurred in the nascent Church, the infant church in the first century, ought to be expected and experienced in the church today. So in order for that to happen, you have to have apostles. And it's interesting, in 2001 charismatic leaders asserted that 2001 quote, "marked the beginning of the second apostolic age." That's interesting. C Peter Wagner spearheaded this movement after recognizing his own apostleship in 1995 when two prophetesses declared he had received an apostolic anointing and later confirmed in 1998 by another prophetic word at a conference in Dallas. This is how these things begin, and people buy into the scam. Wagner described the bizarre circumstances surrounding his anointing. Here's what he said, quote, "I was sitting on the front row when somehow or other, I found myself kneeling on the platform with Jim Stevens, of Christian International, getting ready to prophesy over me in public. How I got there, I still don't know. I glanced up and there was Charles Doolittle, one of our recognized intercessors, standing over me. Charles was a six-footfour muscular African American police officer on the Glendale, California police force with an aggressive look on his face and holding a huge three foot sword over my head, I quickly decided that I better behave myself and listen carefully to what Jim Stevens said. I have since considered that time to be my prophetic ordination as an apostle." In 2000 Wagner began to lead the newly formed International Coalitions of Apostles as the quote, "presiding apostle."  According to Pentecostal historian Vincent Sinon, when the coalition started, quote, "New apostles would join and pay $69 a month as membership dues. Sinon himself was invited by Wagner to join, but later he declined, saying, quote, 'I didn't consider myself to be an apostle, and I wrote him that at $69 a month, I could not afford to be an apostle.'" Well, if you study the history, we learned that membership rates at the end of 2012 varied slightly depending upon the apostle’s nation of residency. In one article I read, the base fee was $350 for international apostles; the fee for apostles living in North America began at $450 per year or $650 for married apostles - meaning apparently a husband/wife team, who both considered themselves apostles. And then they said Native Americans, or First Nation apostles, could join for the same fee as an international apostle.

Now, beloved, I just give you that that history to give you a little sample of how crazy things can be and how people can get scammed with this. May I say with utmost authority, based upon the word of God, that anyone who claims to be an apostle of Jesus Christ today is a fraud. And those who make these claims will manifest the same kinds of characteristics that Paul describes in our text this morning, along with other passages. It's interesting, as Paul indicated in Ephesians 4:11 through 13, God gave apostles and he gave prophets to build the foundation of the church, and the foundation only. Those two offices were temporary, and they did not last beyond the first century of church history. However, though they are now in glory, those apostles and prophets of the first century still equip the saints, and they do so by the Spirit inspired word that we have before us today.

The other three offices of evangelist, pastor and teacher - evangelist, basically meaning a church planter or a missionary -  those offices have continued to this day, and they will continue until the Lord returns.

Now in our text this morning, with that little bit of of background, we learn much about how to identify the difference between a true apostle, or in other words, a true pastor these days, and a false one. And we do this by looking, once again, at Paul's confrontation of the false apostles that had made all of these charges against him.

By the way, you want to put yourself in that scene, okay? The church gathers and they get Paul's letter, and somebody reads it. Now I don't know where the false apostles were sitting along with their sycophants, but they were in there. And I'm sure there was a lot of squirming and elbow punching and all of that going on. And part of what we will look at today, or what we will look at today, was part of that whole confrontation. And as we examine the text, there's going to be three distinguishing differences that emerge from the text that I hope will be helpful for you. The first difference is the difference between giving versus greedy - giving versus greedy.

Notice in verse seven here, Paul employs inspired sarcasm and irony. He says, "Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?" Well, obviously one of the trumped-up charges against the apostle Paul, by his rivals, was that he was according to verse six, "unskilled in speech." He was an amateur in speech, and also because his speech "was contemptible" - chapter 10, verse 10. He really couldn't charge anything, because he knew that what he was saying had no value. That was part of the charge, therefore his message, and basically his ministry, was of no value. And unfortunately, the people bought the lie. They bought into that. The false apostles obviously were in it for the money, Paul was in it for the glory of Christ. Yeah. I mean, you know, this guy is no orator, right? I mean, you've heard him speak. He's, he's not much of an orator, and no wonder he doesn't charge anything. I mean, after all, this is a has-bee rabbi whose kind of made up his own gospel. But in reality, all he is is a leather worker and a tent maker. Are you really going to listen to a guy like that?

Well, what they fail to see is that Paul never solicited funds from churches that he was planting. That's just what we see in Scripture. He only accepted their support after he left so that they could participate in the planting of other churches. Isn't it amazing how the enemy can take something and twist it to make it look like something it is not? And of course, Paul did this to provide a stark contrast between his life and his ministry, his motives and the charlatans that had invaded that church, who were in it for the money.

But what Paul did was also an example to other believers and an example to all of us. Think of what he said in Second Thessalonians three, beginning in verse seven, he says to the Thessalonian believers, "For you yourselves, know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example." In First Timothy three, three, we see that elders are to be free from the love of money. And Paul warned young pastor Timothy in First Timothy six, beginning in verse 10, "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." But he says to him, "Flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness." We've all heard the catch phrase "follow the money," you've heard that I'm sure you have. In other words, the way you can expose corruption is to look and see who is profiting from the money. You show me a man or a woman that has become fabulously wealthy because of their ministry, and they live a lavish lifestyle, and I will show you a fraud. You show me a pastor that is always begging for money, and I'll show you a charlatan trying to build his own little empire. Second, Peter two, Peter warned about these same things, he said, beginning in verse one, "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies..." He went on to say, "Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep."

It is so sad to see people being duped by these greedy con artists. It reminds me of the scribes that Jesus described in Mark 12:40 who "devour widows' houses."  "Katesthiō" -  "devour" - it means to cheat someone out of something; a very interesting term. In other words, these people practice religion to advance themselves, and they do this by conning other people out of their money. And Paul, by the way, uses the same Greek verb here in Second Corinthians 11:20 where he speaks with incredulity, just absolute unbelief, saying, "For you tolerated it if anyone enslaves you, anyone," here it is, "devours you, anyone takes advantage of you." And certainly, it's heartbreaking. And I've known many people who have practically given their life savings to these shysters; undiscerning folks who are helping these people build their ministry empire, helping them buy their jet. People trying to buy a miracle, people trying to give money so that they can impress God enough that he will reciprocate and give them something special. You know, if you just give a little bit more money, then God will do this. And people buy this stuff. This is what was happening in Corinth. Worse yet, these deceivers turned Paul's selfless giving into a sin in the eyes of the people.  Listen to his real testimony, which, by the way, wasgiven to them in the first epistle; you would think that they would have learned. First Corinthians nine, beginning in verse three, he says, "My defense to those who examine me is this, do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? For it is written in the Law of Moses, 'YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.'God is not concerned about oxen is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we do not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? So also, the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel. But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case, for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel." Dear friends, the apostle Paul was a man of God, yet the people were so undiscerning they fell for the lie that Paul didn't charge because he knew that his message was of no value.

Now back to our text in Second Corinthians 11. Instead, we see that Paul humbled himself that they might be exalted. He renounced his apostolic right to support. He supported himself with manual labor, and he was content to live a spartan lifestyle that they might be delivered from the kingdom of darkness and be exalted as sons and daughters of the Most High. And Paul goes on to speak metaphorically and with irony here in verse, verse eight, he said, "I robbed other churches by taking wages for them from them to serve you." Actually, what he's saying is not like he stole from them, but he's saying, even by accepting their support, I felt like I was plundering them. "...And when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia, they fully supplied my need, and in everything, I kept myself from being a burden to you and will continue to do so." Remember, the Macedonian believers were extremely poor, but they gave out of their poverty.

Drop down to verse 12, "But what I am doing, I will continue to do..." and here's why, "...so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting." In other words, I'm going to continue serving you without charge in order to expose the selfishness of these parasitic, false apostles that have come into your midst and are taking advantage of you. So true apostles, or shall we say, true pastors today, will be giving, they will not be greedy.

Secondly, they will be "Christ like" not "Christ less." Notice verse 10, "As the truth of Christ is in me..." Paul says, "...this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia." Which, by the way, is an indication that there were other churches; we're not sure how many, but other churches in that same region as Corinth that were being preyed upon by these predators. So bottom line, if I can put it this way, Paul is saying, my life matches my message. That is just so important. He practiced what he preached as we would say, he was the real deal. He was the same man in private as he was in public. So there was no pretense about him, no hypocrisy - like the Pharisees - of whom Jesus said in Luke 11:39, "You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but inside of you are full of robbery and wickedness."

So Paul was a godly man, a man of of sterling integrity who manifested the holiness of Christ to whom he was forever united. Paul was a man who could honestly say, as he did in First Corinthians 11, one, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." What a statement. In other words, people could look at the Apostle Paul and see Christ in him. He lived as the Latin phrase says "corum deo" in the presence of God. In fact, he said as much as Second Corinthians 2:17, "For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God." He said in Second Corinthians 42 that he had "renounced the things hidden because of shame and was not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth, commending himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God." In other words, Paul had completely rejected any form of treachery, any form of unscrupulous, underhanded dealings with others. Unlike the false apostles, who were shrewd in their treachery, cunning in their manipulation of the truth to somehow fit their agenda and their theology. They were hypocrites, living immoral lifestyles. They had shameful practices devised in secret. They were demonic. They practiced things in order to deceive others and promote themselves. In fact, in that same text, in Second, Corinthians, four two, Paul said, we're not "walking in craftiness." In other words, in cunning, in deceitfulness practiced by wicked people. And he said we're not "adulterating the word of God." Adulterating comes from a Greek verb "doloō." It means to falsify, to distort something, to manipulate something by adding something to it. It's kind of like the fake news that we hear all of the time. In extra Biblical Greek, by the way, it's used to describe corrupting gold or wine with inferior ingredients. Paul says, we don't do that, we're not adulterating the word of God.

And of course, what false teachers do is they take the truth, the purity of the truth, and they will preach that, and then they will add just a little bit of deception to it so people won't see it. It's like taking pure water and then dropping just an infinitesimal amount of some nasty strain of E coli. And many times, pastors and seminary professors and authors do this unwittingly. Instead, Paul said in chapter six, beginning in verse six, that he ministered all times "in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth..." And folks, this is where real spiritual power will come in your life and in my life. This is what produced just a godly presence in the life of the apostle Paul; a man whose life would both reflect as well as emanate the glory of God. You want to ask yourself, Does this describe me? When others see me do they see Christ likeness, or do they seem someone that really is Christ less? Paul was a man who was constantly vigilant. He was always own guard, to guard his heart from evil. He would pray with the psalmist in Psalm 139, verse 23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart." I trust that is a part of your prayer life on a continual basis, Searchme, oh God, and know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. This is the kind of Christian, dear friends, that God can truly use. And for this reason, Paul exhorted young Timothy, saying in Second Timothy two, beginning in verse 21, "Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from these things..." which, by the way, he was referring to cowardly, lazy, slothful Christians that were mentioned in the previous verses, "...if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work." Then he says this "Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."

Now contrast all of this with Paul's rivals. Look at verses 13 through 15 in our text, he describes them, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds." Jesus warned us in his Sermon on the Mount, "beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing." Be careful, folks. They're clever, they're clandestine. They will appear harmless, and they will wear the garb of a pastor, but inwardly, they are ravenous wolves. They will tear your life apart. They will destroy your marriage, your family, your testimony, your church, your faith. Paul warned the Romans that, according to Romans 16:18, "Such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites. And by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting." The point is, folks don't be unsuspecting; be constantly vigilant. What you read, what you hear, whether it's from this pulpit or any pulpit. What you sing in lyrics - I would say that at least 90% of the lyrics in contemporary Christian music is distorted with heresy. Be careful.

In fact, just for a moment, I've listed, well, I had about 12, I think, and I kept going. I thought, no, I don't have time for that. I'm going to give you five, all right? I'm going to give you five dominant characteristics that you will see in churches who have been duped by false teachers and hold a false doctrine. I've been around this a lot over the years. One of the first things you will see is that the people are unteachable. This is a function of pride. They will resent being confronted by the truth, no matter how kindly you do it, only the Holy Spirit can bring conviction. What you'll find is exegesis means nothing. You can point to the text, that doesn't mean anything. It's all about emotion, all about experience. And of course, it's dishonoring to even waste your time with them if they reject you, otherwise, all you're doing is casting pearls before swine. They'll just trample the glorious gospel underfoot. And of course, we know, according to First Corinthians 2:14 that the ...natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because he's spiritually appraised.

The second thing you'll see is these people are vicious. They will "bite and devour one another" according to Galatians 5:15 and be consumed by one another. Paul says verse 26, he says, they will be "boastful, challenging one another, envying one another." Their church will be marked by factions and discord and rivalries and jealousy and strife. I mean, just look at some of the things that began to happen even in Corinth.

A third thing is they will be worldly. You will look at them, and you will see that they love the things of the world more than Christ, and for the most part, they would be, their spiritual life is just shallow. Shallow as water on a plate. There's just no depth to them. The world has conformed them into its image, so that they look and talk and act and think like the world. They have no spiritual discernment. They're basically ungodly people. They have a Christless Christianity, a country club faith. They're ruled by their flesh, not the spirit. Galatians five, beginning in verse 19,  "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Another way of putting it, if you stick with that same passage, you will not see them manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

You will also see hypocrisy. They are hypocritical. Jesus spoke of this in Luke 6:46, "'Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and do not do what I say?'" In other words, these people will give lip service to the Lordship of Christ, but then when you look at their lives, you'll see something radically different. They will hold to, as Paul said in Second Timothy, three, five, "a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."  

And the final thing that I've noticed is they are idolatrous. They will worship themselves, or they'll worship other men or women, whoever it is that they're following, rather than the one true God. It's kind of a practical atheism. Bottom line, they end up reflecting the life of their pastor. They won't be giving, they'll be greedy. They won't be authentic; they will be artificial.

And this leads us to the third contrast, the difference between being affectionate versus authoritarian. People are either going to be characterized by selfless love or by selfish control. And of course, that's the way totalitarian governments work, right? We're getting heavy doses of that right now in this Neo Marxist government that's taken over our country. I mean, just think of all the things with covid and now this equality act that's coming our way, that's going to penalize people for their views about marriage and biological sex. You take pretty much any issue, gun control, legislation, all of these things. This is where it goes. And when you're around apostate churches, you will see that they will function the same way. Their leaders will bully people into submission, and that was what was happening in Corinth.

Notice again, Paul's defense. We'll see how this plays out, in verse 10, "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!" Evidently, these false apostles told the church that Paul's refusal to charge them anything was not only because his message had no value, it was worthless, but also because he did not want to feel any obligation to them, to be in relationship with them, which would have been typical of that culture when somebody gave you a gift. He didn't want any strings attached; it was that kind of mentality. He wanted no social obligation to them. He didn't want to have to show them any gratitude. No, shall we say, social quid pro quo; no binding arrangement. And of course, all of that's utterly absurd, utterly absurd, as Paul makes it clear. It's interesting, isn't it that he goes to the highest court of appeal, and that is God Himself. "Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!" You see, Paul knew that God would vindicate him from this outrageous allegation, and by saying this to them, he really leaves the matter in the court of their own conscience, because they had to be able to look at who Paul was and say, my that's just not true of who he is. And ultimately, we know for the most part, the truth prevailed.

Philip Hughes writes, quote, "There were no depths to which these intruders were unwilling to descend in order to alienate the apostle from his dearly loved children in the Gospel. Hence, Paul's question here, 'Wherefore, because I love you not?' and his protestation, 'God knoweth!'" Hughes went on to say, "It is a real cry from the heart. Words and explanations and justifications are out of place when the relationship of love involved is that between a father and his children." Don't you dare tell me that I don't love my children, right? Of course, I do. Hughes went on to say, "Before God, both he and they need no persuasion that this accusation is a cruel and damnable falsehood. No man on earth had a warmer and more devoted heart than the Apostle Paul. Love was the impulse of his whole life and ministry as Christ's apostle. And so he leaves the shocking and monstrous insinuation that he has no love for them to the judgment of God, who knows and will vindicate the truth and in doing so, he also leaves it to their consciences." You know there's a saying that I've seen played out over and over again, "truth and time walk hand in hand," right? You know, people will eventually discover whether or not their pastor and their church leaders, their elders, really love them, or if they are just using them for their own advantage. A true shepherd is going to love his sheep. Jesus spoke of this in John 10, beginning in verse 11, "'I am the good shepherd.'" And he says, "'The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand. He is not concerned about the sheep, but,  Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me even as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.'" Dear friends, a faithful under shepherd will do the same thing, and the people will know that, and the sheep will follow him. You see, a true shepherd will lead his sheep, not drive his sheep. Butchers drive, shepherds, lead. Peter spoke of this in First Peter five, beginning in verse two, "Shepherd the flock of God among you," he says to the elders, "exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God, and not for sordid gain," in other words for money, "but with eagerness, nor yet is lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock." You see a true shepherd, what Paul is saying here, a true shepherd is going to be affectionate, not authoritarian. He's not going to be a control freak, he's not going to demand things of people.

Then he closes that section, he says, they 'hit you in the face." He's speaking here metaphorically, maybe because a slap in the face was a sign of a real insult then, as it is today, but it also could be a reference to just backhanding someone, because we know that religious leaders did that routinely. That may have been going on in the church. We can't be certain with this, but religious leaders would bully their subordinates, striking those who offended them, or they would have them struck. Remember what they did with Jesus? So who knows what all was going on there. But the point is obvious. Let me put it this way. False teachers and self-appointed predatory pastors are authoritarian bullies that will do whatever it takes to force their people into submission. The focus of their ministry will not be true evangelism and discipleship. They're not really concerned about men and women and boys and girls coming to a saving faith and knowledge of Christ and growing in grace and becoming more like Christ. That's not really the big issue. The big issue is self-aggrandizement, self-promotion and manipulation.

Once again, notice verse 20, where Paul uses irony to make this point. Let's go back to that, "For you tolerate it..." he says, "...if anyone enslaves you..." it's like this is incredible, "...you tolerate it." "If anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face." There's five examples of abusive authoritarianism in a church. Look at these briefly. He uses the term "enslaved" -  katadouloō" in the original language. It carries the idea of dominating someone. The false teachers ordered them about, controlled them, bossed them around, and they tolerated it. He uses the word "devour" - "katesthiō", I mentioned that earlier, it carries the idea of exploitation or manipulation; you're allowing them to cheat you out of your money. Wake up people. He also says that they "take advantage of you." "Lambanō", carries the idea of of entrapment by trickery. And in this context, they were snookered. They were taken in by the craftiness. They took advantage of you. And then he says, "...anyone exalts himself..." the Greek verb carries the idea here of a person that is proud and arrogant and haughty. This, this speaks of haughtiness. These people were so haughty. I mean, they presumptuously claimed a superior rank over the Apostle Paul. And you're buying this stuff.

So dear friends, I just challenge you to be discerning whenever you evaluate a minister or a church. And I know those of you who are listening are concerned about these things, because I hear from you routinely. Use these measurements. Do you see giving or do you see greediness? Do you see Christ likeness, or do you see Christ lessness? Do you see affection or authoritarianism? Because beloved, the former will exalt Christ and help you become more like Christ. The latter will exalt the pastor and cause you to become more like Him.

I want to close with a quote that I have used before, because it means a lot to me. It's by New England Puritan minister Cotton Mather, in fact, you've got it in your bulletin. He lived between 1663, died in 1728, one of the great men that God used in the founding of our country. Here's what he said, "The office of Christian minister, rightly understood as the most honorable and important than any man in the whole world can ever sustain. And it will be one of the wonders and employments of eternity to consider the reasons why the wisdom and goodness of God assigned this to imperfect and guilty man." He went on to say, "The great design and intention of the office of a Christian preacher are to restore the throne and dominion of God and the souls of men, to display in the most lively colors, and proclaim in the clearest to language, the wonderful perfections, offices and grace of the Son of God, and to attract the souls of men into a state of everlasting friendship with Him." Oh, dear Christian, may that be the desire of our heart. Let's pray together.

Father, we rejoice whenever we immerse ourselves in your word, because your Spirit speak to our speaks to our hearts in ways that are so convicting, so encouraging. And for this we are so thankful. Help us to be discerning, deliver us from the evil one, lead us not into temptation. Help us to be forever vigilant and always suspect of our spirituality, so that we won't be duped by the evil one and the temptations that he lays in the well-worn paths of our own sinful proclivities. So Lord, thank you for this time in your Word today, and if there be one here that knows nothing of what it is to be an intimate, saving, loving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, will you please bring conviction to their heart this day that they might be saved and experience the miracle of the new birth for the glory of Christ. For it's in his name that I pray, amen.