Transcript

What if God suggested that teachers and preachers of His Word could ignore the sections of the Bible they would rather not talk about? What if He said, “To make it easier on you, I will let you pick out ten passages you will never have to mention; you can just skip over them and talk about more pleasant things”?

Sad to say, many preachers do this anyway, as if God does not care. Preaching the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) has given way to “My favorite topics that most people enjoy listening to.”

I remember hearing an interview of a well-known pastor with thousands of people attending his church. He said he basically preached on the same twelve topics every year—topics like how to make your marriage better, how to make your finances grow, how to succeed, and how to have better relationships in life. He also said that he preached the same sermon three Sundays in a row because he knew that most of his vast congregation only attends once or twice a month. So, he might change some illustrations and some points in his outline, but he basically prepared only fifteen to seventeen sermons a year. Well, any man interested in that kind of ministry is not really interested in God’s Word. And he is not really interested in God’s people either.

Frankly, that kind of person matches God’s warning regarding a false teacher—a false prophet—described in the Bible as someone more interested in gathering a following than making disciples of Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul gives us three characteristics of a false teacher. First, false teachers lure believers away from holy living. Note Paul’s words here in verse 3:

I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Paul is talking about teaching that deceives people—on the same level of the Serpent’s deceptive words to Eve way back in the garden of Eden. Satan took Eve away from the clear word of God and redefined it to suit Eve’s desires.

False preachers today are doing the same thing: twisting the Word of God so that you can pursue whatever it is that you desire. They might talk about Jesus, but I can assure you, it is not the Jesus of the Bible.

Paul says here in verse 4. They proclaim “another Jesus” and get people to pursue “a different gospel.” What does Paul mean by “another Jesus”? Simple. It is any Jesus who is not the Jesus Paul proclaimed to the Corinthians and the Jesus the whole New Testament proclaims to us.

The Bible shows us who Jesus is: the Lord of glory, God’s eternal Son who left heaven to become fully human, born of a virgin, while still being fully divine. The real Jesus came and lived a perfect life on earth and then suffered death on a cross as the sacrifice for sins so that sinners can be forgiven and counted righteous before God when they put their faith in Him. He conquered death by rising from the dead. He ascended into heaven and rules by the Father’s side. He sends the Holy Spirit to all who trust in Him and repent of their sin, turning in surrender to Christ to walk with Him and to please Him and to look for His soon coming.

If anyone preaches a Jesus that does not fit that biblical description, he is a fake, and a fraud. And his teaching is a deadly trap.

Now you would think the Corinthians would never be in danger of listening to false teaching; after all, they had been personally taught by the apostle Paul. Yet, Paul warns them here. He even uses a touch of sarcasm in verse 4, saying that they “put up with [this false gospel] readily enough.”

They seemed eager to believe false teaching. Why? Because it appealed to their selfish desires and sinful lifestyles.

The first characteristic of false teachers is that they lure believers away from holy living.

The second characteristic is that false teachers are in it to profit financially. In contrast, Paul is not anything like that at all, as he makes clear in verses 7-8:

Did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.

In other words, Paul says, “I did not serve you for money.”

Now do not misunderstand Paul here. He argues elsewhere that pastors ought to be paid in order to serve—they are worthy of their labor (1 Corinthians 9:14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18). But there is a big difference between being paid for serving the church and serving the church to be paid.

Some in the church in Corinth apparently were accusing Paul of robbing the churches he served. The truth is, Paul bent over backward to stay above reproach.

Again, there is a big difference between earning a living from the ministry and being in the ministry in order to get rich. But just like today, there were some of Paul’s opponents—“these super-apostles,” he calls them in verse 5—who were pointing to their wealth as proof that God favored their ministry over Paul’s!

I have heard preachers and evangelists today boast about their homes and their private jets and say that it is proof of God’s blessing. Paul would say that it just might prove they are false prophets.

Paul responds in verse 12:

And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do.

In essence he is saying, “I am just going to keep plugging away at my ministry and let God take care of these other so-called apostles who flaunt their wealth and their following.”

Paul gives us one more characteristic of false teachers: False teachers might appear to be godly, but it is a masquerade. Verses 13-14:

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

That is pretty strong, Paul—comparing them to Satan! But he is exactly right. The devil does not show up in a red suit with a pitchfork in his hand and a devious smile on his face. He shows up with impressive credentials and a beautiful smile and the appearance of light.

In the same way, you will never see a false teacher wearing a badge that says, “Warning! Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” or “Warning! I only want your money.” No, their badges will say, “Messenger of God” and “Servant of the Lord.” As Paul writes in verse 15, they “disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.”

Then how do we tell genuine servants of Christ from the false ones? Paul tells us in the rest of this verse: “Their end will correspond to their deeds.”

Just as Jesus said in Matthew 7, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (verses 16, 20). Over time, a false teacher will be exposed by the way he lives his life.

But Paul’s reference to their deeds includes their doctrine. Check out their doctrine. Are they really teaching the whole counsel of God or picking their favorite topics that make everyone feel good? If it is the latter, they are serving up rotten fruit, and it will make your spirit ill-at-ease; it will make you spiritually malnourished and weak.

So, judge what preachers are saying against the Scriptures—and you ought to do that to me as well. Compare the preaching and teaching to Scripture. Do not swallow anything without checking the label, making sure it is marked with the Word of God.