August 25th 2 Corinthians 11 l didn’t take money from you
1: Would to God ye could bear with
me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. 2: For I am jealous over you
with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present
you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3: But I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4: For if he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit,
which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye
might well bear with him. 5: For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very
chiefest apostles. 6: But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but
we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things. 7: Have I
committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have
preached to you the gospel of God freely? 8: I robbed other churches, taking
wages of them, to do you service. 9: And when I was present with you, and
wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the
brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept
myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. 10: As the
truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions
of Achaia. 11: Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth. 12: But what I
do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire
occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. 13: For such
are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the
apostles of Christ. 14: And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light. 15: 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.
I’ll
brag a little too
16: 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. 17: That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were
foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. 18: Seeing that many glory after the
flesh, I will glory also. 19: For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves
are wise. 20: For ye 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.
21: I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit
whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. 22: Are they
Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham?
so am I. 23: Are they ministers of Christ? (I
speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure,
in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24: Of the Jews five times received I
forty stripes save one. 25: 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; 26: In
journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine
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; 27: In
weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in
fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28: Beside those things that are
without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 29: Who
is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? 30: If I must
needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. 31: The
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth
that I lie not. 32: In Damascus
the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a
garrison, desirous to apprehend me: 33: And through a window in a basket was I
let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.
Not only is this letter of Paul
difficult to understand but it is an expression of Paul's humour too. Paul takes
his arguments into what he calls ‘a little folly’. He says l ask God that you
would bear with me while l say things which may seem a little silly. Paul says,
l am a little jealous over you (in the sense in which he feels they belong to
him) but it’s a godly jealousy not a sinful jealousy. He says l have betrothed
you like a virgin so that l may present you to Christ. But l am afraid that by
some dastardly means Satan might have tricked you, like he did Eve, so that
your minds might have been corrupted from the simplicity of faith in Christ.
Because if a preacher comes who preaches a Jesus who is quite different from he
whom we have preached, or if he preach a different Gospel which is not what you
received from us. I am afraid that you might put up with him. I suppose that l
am not left behind by these ‘super apostles’. Though l might be course in my
speech yet l am not in knowledge. Our message has been throughly made clear to
you by our ministry. Have l committed a sin by humbling myself so that you
might be exalted, because l preached the Gospel for free to you? I have taken
money from other churches so that l might do you Gods service. And when l was
with you and l was in need l did not send the bill to any of you. My brethren
in Macedonia
sent finance to supply my needs. I have tried to keep myself from being a
burden to you and l intend to do so in future. In truth no-one can stop me from
boasting in the whole area of Greece.
No-body in Greece
has supported me in the ministry. Did l do this because l didn’t love you? The
Lord knows how l feel about you. What l do, l do so that those who might oppose
me might find no opportunity to accuse me of any wrong doing. And that those
who take no recompense for their ministry and are proud of it will find the
same is true for me. These men are not true apostles. They are deceitful in
their work. They pretend to turn themselves into apostles of Christ. Do not be
surprised about this because even Satan pretends to be an angel of light. And
therefore it is not difficult for his ministers to be made up into ministers of
righteousness. There end is to be destruction in direct proportion to their
evil work. Paul is careful to point out that what he is saying seems like
foolishness but he says receive me like a fool so that l may describe my
ministry. What l am saying just now is not from the Lord – l am speaking like a
fool would speak. Seeing many glory after their human lives l want to join in
and boast with them. You suffer fools gladly - so l will speak as a fool. You
allow a man to bring you into bondage, to consume you, to take from you, Even
if a man exalts himself or even if he slaps you in the face, you bear with him.
Because they speak with confidence about themselves then so will I. They say
they are Hebrews? But so am l. They say they are Israelites? Yes, and so am l.
They claim to be children of Abraham. But then so am l. They say they are
ministers of Christ? (This is embarrassing now!) I am even more so a minister
of Christ. I have worked much more exhaustingly they them. I have received a
flogging more times than the law allows. I have been in prison frequently. I
have been taken to the point of execution often. From the Jews, says Paul, five
times l was flogged according to the Law. Three times l have been beaten with
rods. Once l was stoned to death (Yet l lived) Three times l have been shipwrecked.
I have had a night and a day floating in the open sea. I have been on journeys
almost constantly. I have been at the point of death from the sea, from
robbers, and from my own countrymen. I have been in danger of my life from
heathens, and in the city, and in the wilderness. and in the sea, and from
false brethren who would love to have murdered me. In all this l have been
often worn out and in much pain, I have been in all night watching’s often, I
have often been hungry and thirsty, and often l have fasted. I have been
exposed to cold and nearly naked. And all this is apart from all the burden
that comes on my shoulders everyday - the care of all the churches. To those
that are weak l am weak with them. To those that are offended, l suffer with them.
If l have to glory then l will glory in all my sufferings. I call upon God the
father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is blessed for evermore to witness that l
am telling the truth. In Damascus
the governor secured the city to try to arrest me, but through a window – in a
basket l escaped out of his murderous hands.
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