 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. We'll be looking today at verses 1 through 15 as we continue our series here in the book of 2nd Corinthians. And what we'll do is I'm going to read verse 1 as the introduction. That will be our foundation, our platform. And I'm going to give you information, develop it, and then we're going to be moving on verses 2 through 15 and conclude at verse 15. And the subject that we're going to be looking at, we're going to see it, is the subject of false teachers, false apostles. You'll see that especially clearly stated in verses 13 through 15. But let's just read verse 1 together. Allow me to give you an introduction, develop that foundation, and then move through our study. 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verse 1. Paul writes, Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly. And indeed, you do bear with me. So Paul is about to share what God has done in his own, in his personal ministry. And he doesn't want to sound like he's bragging, he doesn't want to boast. For him it's difficult to share these things because he doesn't want them to misunderstand why he's sharing this kind of information. You see, one of the characteristics of his opponents, and as I've been sharing with you, false teachers, and he speaks of that in just a moment, false teachers have entered into Corinth and they've been giving a false spin on the gospel. They're sharing things about Jesus and the spirit and all of that, that is different. You'll see that as we go through this chapter. And so they have slipped in and they're causing problems. And so Paul is having to deal with it in 2nd Corinthians. And so one of the things that he said concerning these false teachers is that they elevate themselves, they're promoters of themselves. They set themselves up as the standard by which all Christian teachers are to be tried. They even went so far as to elevate themselves above the apostle Paul, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And their attitudes were so arrogant. And because they have these arrogant attitudes, if you take notes you might want to note this, their arrogant attitudes were one of the ways that they could be identified as false teachers. You see they have a lack of humility. And the lack of humility that they have should serve as a warning to the Corinthian church. Because one of the aspects of a genuine teacher of the Word of God is humility and not arrogance and not self-promotion. And they should have seen that. They should have recognized that. So their lack of humility should have warned the church that these people weren't the real deal. In Proverbs 26-12 the writer said, do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. And they should have used the Scripture as their authority and giving them the ability to judge whether or not these people who were entering in were the kinds of people that you could follow. They were false teachers and they were building up their ministries while attacking his. And so that made it necessary for him to remind and inform them of the fruit of his own ministry. And he needed to do this in order to expose the intruders for what they are, false apostles. These men were presenting themselves as men of authority. And they did so to undermine his authority. So they needed to be dealt with. And Paul began to do so more forcefully in this chapter. Again the motives of the false teachers in part at least were self promotion. They are fleshly. They regard themselves as great and wise. And in this way they were unwisely guilty of commending themselves. And Paul speaks about that. As a matter of fact in chapter 10 he had closed chapter 10 to reveal to us that you should not be doing things for yourself. You should do it for the glory of the Lord. Remember in verse 17 and 18 he had said in chapter 10, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord for not he who commends himself is approved but whom the Lord commands. And so they were promoting themselves and they in a fleshly way desired to be regarded as great and wise. And they were commending themselves in an unwise way. So Paul knew that prominence in the Kingdom of God is ingained through self promotion. Because God is the one who determines the amount of prestige and recognition his servant has. It's like what it says in Psalm 75, 6 and 7. No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges. He brings one down and he exalts another. It's the Lord who puts you in the position that he wants you to be in. And so you don't campaign for that position. And these people were. On one occasion two of the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, one named James the other John, walked up to Christ and they asked him to do something for them. They asked him if they could sit at his right hand and left hand when he ruled. And Jesus answered in Mark chapter 10 verse 40 and he said to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give but it is for those for whom it is prepared. So God determines your position and God determines the amount of prestige and God determines the amount of ministry that you have. These people were building on Paul's foundation and stealing the hearts of the people who had come to faith in Christ through him. You see the proper attitude is seeking to exalt God and to voluntarily take a lower seat. That was the attitude of men that we see in scripture, men like John the Baptist who in John chapter 3 verse 30 speaking of Christ said he must increase but I must decrease. That's the attitude of a man of God. Jesus Christ is everything and I'm simply his servant. Paul said in Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. But in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. So Paul is writing and he's not writing out of injured pride because of all men he was most humble. It is out of a loving pastoral concern that he writes and the things that he has to say relate to those things. He loves these people and he wants them to know that and he's expressing his feelings honestly even though he disliked having to open up this way. There have been times when ministers may be put in the position having to say that these are the things that they've done but they don't do that so that they can be regarded as some great person. They do that sometimes to emphasize their ministry experience or to establish the credibility and Paul was doing that. These people have crept in, they've called names, they've been making charges all through this letter that he's responding to and he's doing it again here we'll see in just a moment but he's having to present himself for who he is so that they may know these things about him. So he's not writing because he's mad, he's not writing because he's injured, he's writing because he's protecting these sheep. And so he says in verse one that you would bear with me and a little folly indeed you do bear with me put up with me you've been putting up with me and he goes on to tell him some things in verse two. He says for I am jealous for you with godly jealousy I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ but I fearless somehow as a serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness. So your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ for if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received or a different gospel which you have not accepted you may well put up with it for I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most imminent apostles. And so he begins right there and he's sharing with them that they need to put up with them for various reasons. One of the reasons he says you need to put up with me is because I'm like a godly father I have jealousy for you because you're in danger. Notice verse two how he says it I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. The word jealous means to desire earnestly it speaks of a deep passionate and intense love. He is saying I am passionately strongly and lovingly attached to you. He was extremely concerned and protective for their spiritual well-being. He was their spiritual father and he viewed them through the perspective of eternity. The things that are being said to you are going to undermine the work that has been done in you. And so I have a jealousy a jealous concern. I have an earnest desire a passionate intense love for you and I'm concerned for you. Now is this jealousy he speaks of is that carnal is it fleshly is it carnal for Paul to feel that way? Is this not the sign of a cult leader that he's saying I'm jealous for you? Well when you read your Bible you'll find some things that are very interesting in it. For example in the Bible God is revealed as a jealous God. In Exodus the Old Testament book of Exodus chapter 34 verse 14 God said you shall worship no other God for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God. He's a jealous God yes because this is mine it belongs to me it's not for you I protect it I'm concerned for it. In James chapter four verses four and five James said it like this he said adulterers and adulteresses do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture says in vain the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously you see God's desires for his people to worship him with an undivided heart with a complete heart as a man I'm married to my wife she I would not have married her if she had said to me you know I'm gonna love you but you know that'll be Monday through Friday on Saturday and Sunday I'm going to reserve that for other loves I say I don't think so that's not going to happen with me it's got to be an uncompromised undivided love or why would we get married at all why would we have relationship if you want to marry me and date somebody else that makes no sense at all but there are believers who say oh I'm in love with God I'm in love with God on Sunday and Wednesday but the rest of the time I'm able to do whatever I want with someone else no it doesn't work that way and God says no I'm a jealous God you're you're mine I paid for you I bought you with a price you belong to me served me who's loved you the way I have loved you he laid his life down Jesus died for us and so he says you belong to me and that's why James would say look at the friendship with the world is actually hostility against God because God gave his son Jesus to purchase us out of this world not to continue living in it he wants me to live a life that is undivided in my affection for him we've been called to love him and to serve him exclusively in mark 12 verse 30 Jesus said it like this you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength this is the first commandment so Paul's concern was that they be totally faithful to the Lord and to illustrate this he portrays himself as the father of the bride now as the father of the bride and it's verse two here I am jealous for you with godly jealousy I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste a virgin to Christ he's presenting himself as the father of the bride and notice in verse two he uses the word present you the word present simply means to place beside or near we use that word when we do weddings in this church we'll have the men will come walking out the bridesmaids will come walking one at a time down the center aisle then the victim also known as the groom will go out and stand right here and we usually have to put a chain on him so he he can't run away but anyway the victim comes and stands there and the bride comes looking at him like you better not move that kind of look and they'll stop right at the front and whoever's officiating when I've officiated the music stops for a moment everybody's quiet and then the question is asked who gives this woman to be married to this man that's a presentation and that's what Paul's speaking about I have presented you who gives this bride to be married to the savior is the picture here who is the one presenting Paul said as a father of the bride I'm presenting my daughter spiritual daughter to the one that she's about to marry Jesus Christ you see I led you to faith in Christ and therefore I'm your father in the faith and as a father gives away the daughter I have betrothed my spiritual daughter to Jesus himself you know the Bible presents Jesus as the husband and the church as his bride in Ephesians 5 31 and 32 it says for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh this is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the church and so Christ is the groom the bride of Christ is the church Paul is presenting the church to the groom the bride to the groom interestingly enough the Bible presents Jesus the husband also as a high priest and in Hebrews 4 verse 14 it gives us some insight into this when it says therefore since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold firmly to the faith we profess Jesus Christ is presented to us as our faithful high priest and according to Hebrews 7 25 he ever lives to make intercession for us as our high priest now one of the requirements for the high priest is found in the book of Leviticus where it says in Leviticus in the Old Testament book Leviticus 21 13 that the high priest shall take a wife in her virginity so Paul is making it clear that he is trying to safeguard the purity of the church because the church is being seduced by false teachers and so this pure bride as he says in verse 2 a chaste virgin is to be presented to Christ but these false teachers through their deception are undermining his attempt to present them in this pure way you see to be spiritually deceived is to be seduced from Jesus Christ and polluted in Jeremiah 3 verse 6 it says the Lord also the Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king have you seen what backsliding Israel has done she has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree and there played the harlot so it speaks of spiritual infidelity Paul is saying I don't want you to be spiritually polluted by the false teachers because I've presented you as a pure bride I wonder how many fathers I have who are listening right now perhaps even in this room who have given your daughter away to a man so that she might be married I've done that and I know that when I gave my daughters it wasn't a light thing I wanted the man that she was marrying that they were marrying I wanted that man to cherish and love and care for my daughter I remember telling one of the guys before I buried him I remember I remember telling one of the guys I loved her before you did and I love her deeper than you ever will it's my baby and that's how fathers feel about their girls at least that's how I felt about mine I loved her before you did I loved her from the moment she came out of her mother's womb I held her first I kissed her first I cared for her first she's mine and you are taking what is mine what father doesn't feel that I felt that for my babies and and I and I was open and I said all I'm asking is that you love her with all of your heart the way I have love her like I have that's all I want right that's what a dad wants love her like I have and I have that protective love for her this is my girl and I'm presenting her to you when my one of my daughters the man who she's marrying came up to me he was in my office and he was talking to me and he said I'd like to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage I said no I said you got to take all of her not just your hand man he didn't know what to do with that I really did say that he just because he was all nervous you know why not mess with him why not God likes it when I do that but that's a very very powerful thing for any father if you are a daddy and you've got a little girl and she may be young right now you'll know what I'm talking about you the Lord Terry you'll know what I'm talking about when that guy comes walking in says I want her for me and you look at him and you ask yourself is he going to be a good husband will he take care of my my baby well guess what the bride of Christ is married to the greatest husband that you could ever have we're married to Jesus Christ he is our husband and we love him what better what better husband could the church have than Jesus himself and Paul has that sense in him I want you yes I want you to know what a valuable thing this is I have I am presenting you as a chaste virgin to Christ but he says in verse 3 I fearless somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ so he says I fearless somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness the serpent is another name of the devil or Satan I want you to see that Paul speaks of the devil as real he's not a symbol he's not a myth he is taking the book of Genesis literally here the Bible teaches in Genesis that Satan entered into the garden through craftiness through through deceitful wickedness he deceived Eve his primary weapon was to call into question God's word when he said has God said and the same deception is found in those who deceived the church has God said they're undermining the gospel calling into question Paul's presentation of it we need to remember that Satan is the originator of all false doctrine he is a master of deception in 1st Timothy 4 verse 1 it says the spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons when he speaks of doctrines of demons those are teachings inspired by demonic spirits and in the end times there will be those who are going to be following after these doctrines you see Satan may through deceit defile your committed love for Jesus through these false teachers Paul is saying I'm alarmed that these imposters are seducing you into faithfulness unfaithfulness he says I'm concerned that your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ the word corrupted speaks of being made impure or defiled the simplicity that is in Christ is the virtue of one who is free from pretense and hypocrisy it speaks of the purity and singleness of affection for Jesus Christ I'm concerned that you're going to be drawn away from him he says in verse 4 for if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received or a different gospel which you have not accepted you may well put up with that and so what they're doing is they're preaching a different Christ now he's speaking of false teachers and they've already come in they're corrupting various elements of the person of Christ and the gospel itself they're preaching what he calls another Jesus when he says preaching another that that's a different kind of Jesus they're preaching a false messiah Jesus with a twist Jesus with a spin Jesus that's not the Jesus of the Bible not they're not preaching the Jesus of Scripture they're given their own version of him this happens to this day what's happening then they're twisting Christ ask a Mormon who Jesus Christ is ask them don't knock on your door they come and visit ask him who's Jesus Christ oh he's Lucifer's he's he's the spirit son of uh he's the spirit son of Lucifer ask ask a Jehovah's Witness or a spirit brother of Lucifer ask ask a Jehovah's Witness who Jesus is and they'll tell you he's uh Michael the Archangel that's they'll tell you that and and that's another Jesus that's a different Jesus that's not the Jesus of Scripture the Jesus of Scripture is not the spirit brother of Lucifer and and he's not Michael the Archangel he is the second person of the Trinity is God's son born of the Virgin Mary and and yet false teachers will change who Jesus is and that's what they'll do they preach a different Jesus he preaches another Jesus a different Jesus and and a different kind of Jesus they've twisted him they're changing him into someone someone who's different than he actually is which is typical in Colossians 2 8 and 9 it says see to it that no one takes you captive through halloween deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on christ for in christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form they're preaching a different spirit the word different there means not of the same nature form class or kind it's different they're speaking of a different spirit the holy spirit the one who gifts the church and sets us free from bondage they're preaching a different spirit the false apostles brought with them a spirit that is a spirit of fear it's a spirit of bondage in Romans 8 15 Paul said you didn't receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear you received the spirit of sonship and by him we cry Abba father and they bring a different gospel a different way of salvation it's different than the true gospel and this false gospel always adds and one for another human efforts to be saved always adds that it's not by grace that you're saved in these false teachings it's always something extra you have to do but in Galatians 1 6 through 9 Paul said it like this because he was dealing with the same kinds of things in and other churches in the churches of Galatia were being infiltrated by people were bringing them into legalism and and so in Galatians 1 6 through 9 he said to the churches I'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ but even if we are an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you let them be eternally condemned as we have already said so now I say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let him be eternally condemned that's how strong this is and that's how Paul feels about it you see they've opened themselves up to a false teacher and a false gospel and notice in verse 4 how he says you may well put up with it you're inclined to believe the eloquent preacher of a different gospel and Paul fears that they're going to embrace the lies of these false teachers he says in verse 5 I consider that I'm not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles and so between the things that they're bringing and what you've seen with me mine is the one that was established by God and by the way that's an answer to their 21st charge if you're keeping notes because they've been saying and you'll see this a little deeper in a moment they've been saying that that Paul is their spiritual inferior and that's why he makes it clear I am not at all inferior to the most eminent the super apostles I'm not less than they are verse 6 even though I am untrained in speech yet I'm not in knowledge but we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things I'm not a professionally trained speaker he's saying I speak like the average person I take the word of God and I bring it to you in a way that anybody listening can understand I'm not trying to be eloquent you see during the time of of Paul there were professionally trained eloquent communicators in the Greek culture to be a professional orator to have the capacity to speak with eloquence in depth and philosophy was was greatly prized and people valued it but Paul came speak in a simple language a simple statement to making it making the things of God very clear so they would say he's not professionally trained this guy here when we already saw it in chapter 10 verse 10 when they said his speech is contemptible so he said I'm not eloquent like they are I'm just an average guy I speak as an average guy I'm not professionally trained I'm not spellbinding you with eloquence or stories or illustrations I'm not coming on with smooth speech to tickle your ears and draw you after myself the way false teachers do I'm speaking to you plainly I'm not trying to to amaze you with my vocabulary and and depth and all I'm wanting you wanting you to know the truth of what God has to say one of the temptations of being a public speaker is that you can fall into the temptation of trying to to impress the hearers you can do that it's not hard to do when I first got into teaching ministry I taught a home bible study started in September of 1973 at my parents house in norwalk I was going to biola college at that time and when you go to college you begin to learn things you know that you're supposed to learn anyway I was going to bible college and and I was learning things of theology and I was learning different words and all and and and I liked I liked learning new words and and I still remember as I was teaching a bible study as I was speaking I still remember speaking and using one particular word I believe it was the word tetragrammaton and a very common word that we all use every day in one form or another right but as I was teaching I spoke of the tetragrammaton which is basically the four letters in Hebrew that make up the name Jehovah and so I was using that and I said you know the tetragrammaton and my dad's looking at me and my dad's got this big smile in his face he's just looking at me see my dad my dad was the man of his day he was born in 1927 and my dad during the depression my dad had a quit school at in the eighth grade because a lot of the young people had to because they had to provide and my dad grew up in a farm that my my grandfather owned in Norwalk off a pioneer boulevard and so that farm is still there that little house that my grand my dad was in and all and my grandmother it's still there it's still owned by the family but my dad grew up in a couple of acres they would they would work the land but he also had to go out and and and do picking migrant work type things to provide in a time when people need that his family needed to eat and so dad had to quit school in the eighth grade and and and my dad was an intelligent man he he read I can still remember every night I when I went into his room to say good night my dad would have his readers digest he liked that readers digest and he would read it every night an article here an article there dad liked to read but dad wasn't educated now my mom was the educated person in the family she went to ninth grade but mama got married one month past her 17th birthday to my dad and so neither one of them graduated high school they were both intelligent people uneducated and there I am speaking to my dad and I'm saying something like tetragrammaton and the spirit of the Lord prompts my heart I'll never forget it and I heard something like this said to my heart your dad is very proud of you but he doesn't understand a word you're saying I've never forgotten that small lesson he's very proud of you but he doesn't understand a word you're saying and I at that point back in 1973 is when the Holy Spirit began to say be very careful that you don't make a simple message into something confusing and hard to understand and that's the reason I use illustrations that's why I tell stories that's why I teach the way that I do because I want us to walk out saying I know something about God because I went to church and heard a Bible study that's what I want not to impress with great swelling words of eloquence it's not hard to learn words when I did that see when I when I was in the world I I stopped reading for the longest time I only read comic books and I was drinking a lot and smoking a lot of pot and and then just before I got saved I started picking up books and reading them again and then when I got saved I started reading books many of them I didn't understand books by C.S. Lewis and and other authors and all very deep thoughts that a brand new believer who doesn't have a broad vocabulary couldn't really understand but there was a writer by the name of Herman Hesse and some of you perhaps have heard of him you may have had to study him in philosophy in your college classes or or whatever Herman Hesse and he was somebody who wrote various books like Steppenwolf and other and he wrote a book called Narcissus and Goldman and and other books like that and so when I was in in the military I started reading Herman Hesse and as I would read him he is what was called an existentialist and so as I was reading him he used such words I couldn't understand him so I would read with a dictionary so I would read the book and I'd get the dictionary out to say what was that word what is that word and I began to broaden my vocabulary at that time so I actually became in love with words for a couple of years to the point that I was obnoxious and arrogant so when I got out of the service I was still trying to learn and expand my vocabulary by using larger words because words have power and words when you have knowledge knowledge is power and I had discovered that if I can say something people don't understand they can I can actually make them think I'm brilliant when in fact I I'm not but they didn't know that word therefore it makes me smarter than them and I saw that and some of you understand what I mean I saw that and so what happened is I started using vocabulary as control and then I'm teaching my dad and my dad smiling and nodding at me not knowing what I'm saying and it took the Holy Spirit to say shut up and he said it in a very nice way but he said use words that everybody understands now it's not because I think I'm so superior I hope it doesn't come off that way it's because I learned what Paul was saying I'm not trained as a professional man I'm not eloquent I'm not higher educated he was an extremely brilliant man he could have befuddled anybody he writes things that I have to use a commentary to understand I mean this guy's brilliant but he said I didn't come here I wanted to give to you something that would help you though I'm untrained in speech I may not be able to spellbind you with stories and illustrations and and vocabulary and and the way that I speak with with all of that authority and and bearing in everything and and and draw you in he says I may not be a professionally trained teacher eloquent speaker but I I am thoroughly trained in the knowledge of the gospel and I will give you that I will give you what God's word has to say I will teach you the whole counsel of God and these false teachers are not doing that he says in verse six we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things I'm transparent before you you've seen all evidence of my office I've been completely honest and and I've given my heart to you as well as the gospel of Jesus Christ I didn't give to you just words I gave you my very self I gave you the gospel and I gave you my life that's what pastors do they give the gospel but they also give their life and that's what he gave and that's what these people were not giving I have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things I'm transparent before you what you see is what I am he says in verse seven did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted because I preach the gospel of God to you free of charge I robbed other churches taking wages from them to minister to you this is the 22nd charge the charge he's not worth supporting he's not worth compensating so he says did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted I preach the gospel free of charge it seems that the false teachers were saying he's not worthy to support they'd be saying listen if he's an apostle he should have expected support but Paul didn't ask for support he made tents and other churches supported him he had already said in chapter nine of first Corinthians verses 14 through 16 he had already said in the same way the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel but I've not used any of these rights I'm not writing this in the hope that you'll do such things for me I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast yet when I preach the gospel I cannot boast for I'm compelled to preach woe to me if I do not preach the gospel he said I'm not asking for some support he says in verse 7 I just want you that you might be exalted he humbled himself that they might receive the benefits of grace without financial stress in verse 8 I robbed other churches taking wages from him to minister to you other churches support me they freed me up so I could serve you they supported me and and and I was able to do this ministry in verse 9 he says when I was present with you and in need I was a burden to no one for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied and in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you and so I will keep myself as the truth of Christ is in me no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Ikea why because I don't love you and so God supplied my need through other brothers in 1st Thessalonians 2 verse 9 it says surely you you remember brothers are tall and hardship we work night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preach the gospel of God to you he worked with his own hands in Philippians 4 10 he said I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again though you surely did care you just lacked opportunity so when he says I didn't take from you he says why because I didn't love you God knows the Corinthians were believing that he didn't receive help because he didn't love them you see if he loved them he would have trusted them and would have received from them but he's saying I have I have preached free of charge to you for a reason to cut off those who make false charges against me who equate themselves with me these false teachers are seeking your finances but I seek you he says in verse 13 for such are false apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into apostles of Christ no wonder Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their works so he identifies them false apostles they're deceitful workers and they've made themselves fashion themselves into apostles they're not called people well no wonder verse 14 Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light they are false in their claims to apostleship as well as the message that they're bringing Paul was an apostle because God chose him they are fashioning themselves into ministers of Christ and they call themselves apostles well he says that's not a small that's no small wonder notice verse 14 Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light there is something that has been called the beautiful side of evil if satan were to take his mask off and show you what he's like you wouldn't follow him if you had an opportunity to see him in what his character really is and what he really is in terms of like from the from the interior if it was to be expressed in the exterior you would see he's a fiend you would see his evil you would he is evil incarnate he is he hates you the god loves you so much but he hates you so much but there's a beautiful side of evil guys don't ever forget that the first time the first time i i was tempted to drink my flesh desired it but there was a spiritual impetus for me to drink if the enemy would have not made it look so beautiful because for me drinking looked like it was cool it was sophisticated and the alcohol it just it was enticing and and it tasted so good when you drank it right i mean those of you who drank for those of you who didn't liar um non-teasing of course but for those of you who drank you know what i mean i mean when there there are some drinks that you won't drink because yeah they taste terrible there are other things that you drink and you'd say man this is good i'd like to drink more of it that's what happened to me and and there's like a whisper that's in your heart drink a little bit more what do you feel that feeling you're getting you're getting a little we used to call it getting our buzz on you're getting a little high you're getting and you feel like exhilarated it that was my enemy if if the enemy would have told me keep it up keep it up because if you keep it up one of these days you're going to be arrested i was arrested three different times for alcohol related things you're going to spend time in jail for it not days weeks and months overnighters you're going to be in jail you're going to have someone vomiting on your face in a jail cell just keep it up you're going to love it if he had told me that you think i don't want it to do that the first time i smoked a cigarette which is not a good thing to do by the way my body told me this is not good but if you keep it up you get a habit of it you get a habit of it because a lifetime and a lifetime of it you may die of cancer and i have buried people who have died of lung cancer it is not a beautiful way to die but if the enemy said just keep on taking the money paid for that you're paying for your own funeral your own death ahead of time go ahead and then you see the emaciated bodies and you see what happens to them and they're buried and their bodies been eaten ravaged by cancer but the enemy didn't tell you spending your money on this is a good is a bad thing he told you it was a good thing you look so cool so heavy so smart that's the way it works right smoke this drink this drop this there always lies always lies always lies you see these beer commercials with these guys in a bar and every one of them has a 32 inch waist big old muscle then you see them in real life they look nine months pregnant the t-shirts hanging out like that that's what they really end up looking like you drink enough beer and you end up with a beer gut that's just a fact but no you're always handsome you're always personality people are always walking up the beautiful girls are always swinging their hair like some reason they swing their hair like that always cool always the one people like to talk to when i was 18 19 and i was doing the drugs and alcohol i had a friend a friend of mine named debbie debbie was could have been a poster for the hippie girl of the 60s she had straight brown hair parted in the middle wore the granny dresses and she was a pretty girl and a friend of mine you know i went to school with poster girl i got saved at the age of 20 when in the military came out i was about 22 23 i was standing in my father's front yard when a girl comes walking down the sidewalk towards me and and i said look it's debbie i haven't seen debbie in four years at least as she's walking down towards me i'm looking at her but it's not the same girl i used to know anymore her face is emaciated she's very very thin her and she's got marks all over her face from blemishes that that she had her hair was kind of falling out in some places and she didn't have a couple teeth and her teeth had there they were falling out of her mouth and i'm looking at debbie this girl who at one time had been a very attractive girl i'm looking at her and and i said i said to her debbie i said debbie how you doing oh i'm fine man i'm fine she goes you're looking okay what happened to you and i said i got saved debbie i gave my heart to christ a couple years ago i've been following jesus christ got away from the alcohol got away from the drugs got away from everything i'm following the lord she says you look good but she looked bad i said what happened to you she said meth she was doing she was doing her drugs and it just tore her body up do you think the enemy told debbie one of these days you're going to look like this one of these days you're going to be vacant your eyes are going to be like lights on but nobody's home you think you're told of that the devil always lies to you never forget what i'm telling you he always lies to you he is a liar he is the father of lies jesus said and he is he will promise you things you cannot have but he makes you believe that you will and you will drop everything relationships jobs friendships you'll drop everything to pursue what he claims to you you will have if you follow him he did it to jesus he said all you need to do is worship me and all these kingdoms will be yours he did it to jesus why wouldn't he do it to you he is he is the he's an angel he transforms himself into the angel of light because there's a beautiful side to evil if he let you know where he really would take you and what really you're going to lose your family you're going to lose your health you're going to lose your friends you're going to lose your job you're going to lose your self respect you're going to lose it all oh sleep with the guy he really loves you the enemy whispers he loves you you don't have to be married i mean what's that just a piece of paper it's just contract you don't have to be married you get knocked up two three times before you know it you've got another guy on the side with another baby because you know what you've been lied to he lies to you he lies to you false doctrine tears your life up lies will tear you up listen to this old man telling you the truth he lies to you and paul was saying such are false apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into apostles of christ no wonder satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light therefore it's no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their works they transform themselves into ministers they will receive their final and just reward in matthew 18 verse 6 jesus said it like this if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea these people their end will be according to their works paul said i have betrothed you as a pure virgin to jesus christ and they're trying to take your purity and as a father who loves you a father who cares about you i have to tell you they're saying i don't love you you've got to be kidding me why i don't love you god knows i do and that's why i'm telling you the truth and that's why we go through the word of god verse by verse so everyone in this church will hear what is true because god has placed it on my heart as a pastor to teach you the truth because the truth sets you free and satan will bring you into bondage and that's why we do what we're doing