Second Corinthians 11:13

The Bible says in Second Corinthians 11:13-15, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” Paul had been warning the Corinthians about false teachers: those who teach a false Christ, a false spirit, and a false gospel. Surely such false teachers are horrible people, and must be easily recognizable by how horrible they must appear. But the point that Paul is making here is that is not the case. The worse that they are, the more pleasant that they will appear. The terribleness of the false teachers is based upon the content of their teaching and not on anything else. A false teacher may have a pleasant speaking voice and a pleasant appearance and an attractive mannerism. Even Satan appears as an angel of light. Some mass murderers are very charming. That is what makes them even more dangerous. The same is often true of false teachers.

Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 11:16-21, “I say again, let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. For you suffer fools gladly, seeing you yourselves are wise. For you suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, I speak foolishly, I am bold also.” Paul is being somewhat sardonic in his use of the words fool and foolish. Anyone who boasts about himself is being foolish. “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own lips.” The false teachers were boasting about themselves in an improper way, and Paul pointed out to the Corinthians that their attitude to the false teachers meant that they “suffer fools gladly.” Paul was going to tell the truth about himself, a truth that we should all sit up and take note of.

In describing himself and his ministry Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 11:22-29, “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they the ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?”

Now we know some more details about the false teachers who were plaguing the Corinthians. They were Hebrews, they were Jews, and they were of the seed of Abraham. These were the judaizers. They corrupted the gospel because the added the law to it. If you add anything other than salvation by faith in Christ to the gospel, then you have corrupted it. Since the first century false teachers have been corrupting the gospel by adding things to it. Everything under the sun has at one time or another been added to the gospel to corrupt it and to make people think that there is something more than believing on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation from sin. False teachers have added circumcision, confirmation, church membership, water baptism, good works, and everything else you can think of to corrupt the gospel. But the truth of God standeth sure, and the few servants of God who are left on the earth who preach the gospel of grace will always have the example of Paul to challenge and yes, to shame us, as we remember what he did and what he went through to be faithful to the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus.

Of all the things that Paul listed, the first thing that he listed was his labors. Paul was a practical man. He knew that dreaming accomplished nothing without hard work. Jesus said that a sower went forth to sow. He worked. It is hard work to plant seed in a field. It takes work to spread the gospel. Paul did that work, and he did it like no other. Once you get involved in the work of spreading the gospel, you can be sure that there will be opposition and persecution to try and get you to stop. Some people have been stopped by the things that they suffered, stopped from the path that they once were on in the great work of spreading the gospel. But Paul did not stop. What an example he was to us. Paul said about his life, “Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”

In spite of all that he accomplished, or we should say all that Jesus accomplished through him, Paul knew better than to boast of what he had done. Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 11:30-31, “If I must needs glory, I will glory in the things which concern mine infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed forever more, knows that I lie not.” What lesson did Paul learn in his life such that he came to glory in his infirmities? He learned, as he will tell us in the next chapter, that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. Human weakness has one advantage: it is an opportunity to see what God will do. Someone who has a lot of strengths might become proud, but pride goeth before a fall. Someone who has a lot of strengths might glory in their strengths, but God will share His glory with no one. Someone who has a lot of strengths might start trusting in their strengths and stop trusting in God. That would be a fatal mistake because the just shall live by faith. If you have weaknesses and infirmities, then thank God that He has given you good reasons to always depend upon Him and what He will do. And then when you depend upon Him, you will see Him intervene and accomplish His will. By putting your faith in God because you know that only He can do it, you will even be able to see mountains removed and cast into the sea.

Paul gave an example in his own life how God provided when there appeared to be no answer. In Second Corinthians 11:32-33 Paul wrote, “In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: And through a window in a basket I was let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.” God provides a way when there is no way. When things look impossible, that is right when you can expect that God will do something if He so chooses. That is why Jesus said, “With God all things are possible.” It looked like Paul was cornered. What could Paul do against a garrison of soldiers sent by the governor to arrest him? But God provided the way of escape. That is when Paul learned his lesson. If you think that you have an answer to your difficult situation, then you have no reason to trust in God about it. But if you think you have no solution, then you have every reason to trust in God because no one else can help or fix the problem.

Paul continued with this theme in the next chapter. He wrote in Second Corinthians 12:1-7 where it says, “It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth; such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth; How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself will I not glory, but in my infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he sees me to be, or that he hear of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”

It seems as though Paul was talking about himself when he spoke of knowing someone who was caught up into paradise. Paul probably used the third person in order to avoid talking about himself more than he thought was proper. Too bad more people do not make a greater effort to avoid talking about themselves. One thing that Paul did say about himself was the same thing that he had said in the previous chapter: he had learned that the only thing he would glory in were his weaknesses. If you have a weakness, then you have a reason to trust in Christ; and if you trust in Christ, then you will see Jesus accomplish miracles.

Paul came to realize that the very reasons that God gave him weaknesses and afflictions was so that Paul would have reasons to trust in Christ. Paul said, “There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.” One of the biggest spiritual mistakes that you will ever make is to think that you can handle whatever gets thrown at you. If you think you can handle it, that is when your trouble starts.

Notice that Paul said that this thorn in the flesh of his came from Satan; but at the same time God used it to accomplish something good in Paul’s life. It always works that way. The devil will attack and will use things in this world and people in this world. But for the person who continues to trust in God, God turns the tables; and that which the devil designed to cause destruction, God will alter so that it will cause only good. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, and to them that are the called according to his purpose.”

Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 12:8, “For this thing I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me.” We are not exactly sure what Paul’s affliction was that he spoke of here. It may have been a problem with his eyes. The important thing is to note that Paul prayed three times that the Lord would fix it and take it away. But God’s answer was, “no.” Sometimes God says “no” when we pray. God is not a genie who does our every bidding. We must always pray, “Thy will be done.” And sometimes His will is not our will. If this was a physical affliction that Paul had, and it probably was, then of course it shows that God does not heal every affliction. But if He does not, then He will use it for His glory.

Notice that Paul said that he prayed about his affliction three times. He did not pray three hundred times about it. Eventually it is time to stop praying and start believing. You do not have to keep praying forever about something for God to answer. He heard you the first time. As a matter of fact, He knew what you needed even before you asked Him. What you might do after you have prayed one or two or three times about something, is to thank God for what He is going to do now that you have put things into His hands.

Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 12:9, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” What is the solution for a human being who is too weak to do anything for himself? The solution is the grace of Christ. Grace is when God does for you what you cannot do for yourself. Salvation is by the grace of God. You cannot do it: you cannot do what needs to be done. You need the grace of God that is in Christ, and His grace becomes available to you when you rely upon Him because you know that you cannot do it. Serving Christ and accomplishing something for Him can only be done by the grace of God. That is just like salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith. When you come to the end of yourself and realize that you cannot save yourself; then you can look to Jesus to be your Savior because you know that you are completely dependent upon Him for salvation.

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