Spotting False Teachings

Well, thanks very much, Niamh, for reading that for us today.

Yeah, my name is Craig.

I'm a pastor in training here at Brunsfield.

And my wife, Josie, and I have been here for about six months now.

And we're really enjoying getting to know the church family here.

And it's my pleasure to take us to our next bit of 2 Corinthians.

If you've been here for a while, you know that we've been tracking through 2 Corinthians.

And we have reached chapter 11.

We really are in the business end of the book now.

Just a couple of chapters to go.

But I'm going to start by asking this question that I've put up on the screen there.

Have you ever been scammed?

Now, I'm sure all of us have seen the news stories of people being scammed out of large sums of money.

It seems to happen all the time.

According to a leading UK fraud prevention service, in 2024, people in the UK lost 11 billion pounds to scams.

It's big business.

So I ask you again, have you ever been scammed?

Maybe you received a dodgy text from a number that you didn't recognise.

Or maybe you bought something online that turned out to not be quite what it had been made out to be.

Or maybe there was a stranger on the phone who convinced you that they were from the bank and asked you to send some money over.

There's lots of different tactics that the scammers use.

And the thing that people always say after being scammed is,

I can't believe I fell for that.

I thought I knew better.

I definitely won't fall for that sort of thing again.

Even though it happens all the time to so many people,

we seem to have this confidence in ourselves that we can detect the real from the counterfeit.

But what about here in church?

How do we know we're following the real Jesus?

Is the Jesus we've been taught the one who we read about in the Bible?

Or is he some poor imitation?

And how do we know that those who teach us and lead us in church are true messengers of the gospel?

Are they the real deal?

Or do they have ulterior motives?

So in chapter 11 that we've just read,

Paul is really concerned that the Corinthians are being scammed.

They are being taught a different Jesus by people who look genuine.

But the Corinthians, they may or may not know that they're being scammed.

But actually, they don't seem to care.

And this is a big problem for Paul.

So Paul has spent much of the letter of 2 Corinthians defending himself up to this point,

proving his credibility as a teacher of the gospel.

But now he turns his reader's attention to his rivals,

and he exposes them for who they truly are.

The Corinthian teachers who have infiltrated this church,

those who Paul ironically calls the super apostles,

they are scammers of the worst kind.

They are, in fact, servants of Satan.

Strong words.

But let's look at this passage and see why Paul thinks this way.

So we're going to look at this passage in three sections

and ask ourselves the following questions.

Are you being faithful to Jesus or are you entertaining lies?

Secondly, are you clear on what your leaders should look like

or are you looking for the impressive?

Thirdly, are you aware of the enemy

or are you letting your guard down?

So now that we know where we're going,

let's look at verses 1 to 4 and ask our first question.

Are you being faithful to Jesus or are you entertaining lies?

You might have seen in the passage there

that Paul begins by using a marriage metaphor

to describe the Corinthians' relationship with Jesus.

Paul, in his role as a minister of the gospel,

had, in the past, presented the Corinthian church to Jesus

like a bride is presented to a groom in a marriage ceremony.

The Corinthians had entered into a solemn marriage commitment

to the Lord Jesus.

They had been wedded to Christ.

And verse 3 tells us that they had a sincere and pure devotion to him.

They have committed to love and serve Jesus.

Just as Jesus had committed to love and be faithful towards them.

A wedding.

But Paul fears that this marriage is under threat.

Not because of any unfaithfulness or wavering on Jesus' part.

Paul identifies that the Corinthians are being enticed away from Jesus.

Paul points the Corinthians back to Genesis 3

and informs them that they,

that in the same way that Eve was deceived

by the cunning serpent,

the Corinthians are being enticed away from their pure devotion to Jesus.

The problem with Adam and Eve was that they were tempted to believe

that the perfect, intimate relationship that they enjoyed with God,

it wasn't good enough for them.

And they needed something more.

In the same way, it seems that the relationship that the Corinthians enjoy with Jesus,

it's not enough for them.

They're being offered something else.

Then Paul says he is jealous for their love.

Not because Paul himself desires their love.

Rather, Paul wants God to have the things that are rightfully his.

Paul wants God to be the only recipient of the Corinthians' love and worship.

God desires and deserves their affection.

Now, our second book of the Bible,

we thought about Genesis just there.

In Exodus, after God's people had messed up

and broken God's law,

like mere days after they'd received it.

We remember Mount Sinai,

we remember the tablets of stone, the Ten Commandments.

So quickly after that,

they messed up,

they broke God's law,

and they started worshiping the golden calf.

God committed himself in those days,

again, in a loving relationship.

They'd messed up,

but he says,

I'm going to commit myself to you once again.

And he instructs them once again,

not to worship any other God.

Why not?

Because the Lord is a jealous God.

The story in Exodus tells us that one of God's names is jealous.

And God is jealous for our affection too.

God desires and God deserves our affection.

Now, the real question is,

what are the Corinthians being drawn away to instead of Jesus?

Well, we see in verse four

that Paul convicts them of settling for a different Jesus

than the Jesus the apostles had taught them.

Paul convicts them of settling for a different spirit

to the one they had received

and a different gospel from the one they had accepted.

When Paul first brought the good news about Jesus

to the city of Corinth,

this was the true gospel message.

The Corinthians weren't lacking any important information.

They had the full package.

But since then,

others have come along

and they have come in

and they've said,

there might be something else.

They're offering something superior.

They're offering something truer.

They're offering the Corinthians

something other than Jesus.

Maybe the Jesus that Paul had taught them

wasn't in fact enough.

Maybe they did need something more.

But Paul says the Jesus he had taught them

was the true Jesus,

the son of God,

given to die for the sins of the world

and who had risen to glory.

And the Holy Spirit that they had received from God

on putting their trust in Jesus,

he was the true Holy Spirit.

They had already received him.

He was already with them in the Corinthian church.

He was already helping them.

They didn't receive any other spirit.

Now,

I was wandering around

the Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow on Friday

and to my amazement,

I came across these

really convincing pieces of artwork.

I couldn't believe it

when I stumbled across the Mona Lisa

and the sunflowers by Van Gogh

hanging in the Lego store

in Buchanan Galleries.

What on earth were they doing there?

But then I soon realized

that these are not in fact

the true artworks that we know,

but are in fact

poor imitations.

But if you had the option,

would you settle for hanging

one of these pieces

in your living room

in pride of place

if in actual fact

you had the Mona Lisa

in the cupboard

in the spare room?

The Corinthians

already had the real thing,

but they were settling

for something that was trash

in comparison.

The Corinthians

were not lacking anything.

There was nothing

that the world

or its bogus salesmen

could offer them

that they didn't have already.

Yes,

the Corinthians were sinners,

but they'd been saved

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Christ alone.

And any message

that suggested otherwise

was a false message.

Now,

Paul doesn't pity them

for going astray.

He accuses them

of accepting

and putting up

with a counterfeit gospel.

One of these pieces.

They're putting up

with trash.

And for Paul,

this is a serious matter.

This is serious unfaithfulness

to the Jesus

that they had been wedded to.

So,

Satan's tactic

has always been

to divert God's people

away from wholehearted devotion

to Jesus.

And all God's people,

that's you and I,

we too must stick

to the Jesus

we've received,

the true and glorious Jesus,

and give him

our pure and sincere

devotion.

And we're going to be

devotion.

So,

that was

our first question.

But what about

our leaders

and our teachers,

those tasked

with teaching us

about Jesus?

How do we know

if they're the real deal

or bogus salesmen?

So,

we're going to look

at verses 5 to 11 now.

Are you clear

on what your leaders

should look like

or are you looking

for the impressive?

So,

in the next section

of the passage,

the first thing

we see is that

Paul is doing

a light comparison

between himself

and the so-called

super apostles.

Now,

these guys

have been alluded to

throughout the book

so far,

but they're named here.

He calls them

the super apostles.

This is ironic,

ironic way

of describing them.

They look

really great.

great.

Paul is not,

in fact,

though,

any way inferior

to them.

We read that

in verse 5.

They are excellent

public speakers.

They've been trained.

They speak powerfully.

They're engaging.

They use

excellent illustrations.

Their teaching

is interesting.

It's often funny.

But Paul

has substance.

Paul claims

to have

knowledge.

But what does he mean?

It means that

Paul knows

what he's talking about.

To use the language

of 1 Timothy,

Paul isn't irreverently

babbling about things

he doesn't understand.

Paul knows

Jesus personally.

He knows

the scriptures

and he knows

how they point

to Jesus.

The super apostles,

super apostles,

they might be

great,

entertaining speakers,

but they are fools

because they don't

know God

or his gospel.

Now,

the next thing

we see

in verses 5 to 11

is that Paul

is saying

he's not going

to change

his ways.

He's not going

to bend

the expectations

of the super apostles.

And we see that

when he starts

talking about money.

it seems

that the super apostles

got really offended

by Paul's refusal

to charge

for his teaching

and for receiving

help from other churches.

Now,

I think Paul

was deliberately

trying to make himself

look as differently

as possible

from these

super apostles.

And I think

this had really

riled them up.

I think they're maybe

saying to themselves,

who does he think

he is?

He's taking

the moral high ground

by not receiving

money from the

Corinthians.

In fact,

he's undercutting

our profitable

business.

It seems that

Paul wanted to

look as differently

as possible

to these super apostles

and in this rich

and wealthy city

of Corinth,

it meant that

not receiving

a wage

for his teaching.

Paul needs

these Corinthians

to see

that he is not

like these

super apostles

in any way

at all.

Now,

in verse 10,

he says that

nobody will stop

him from boasting.

This word of boasting

is language

that Paul uses

quite a lot

in 2 Corinthians.

And next week,

Archie's going to

take us to our

next passage

and Paul's going

to go in

full tilt

on his boasting

about his

Christ-like credentials.

But before we get

there, he's saying,

don't expect a

different approach

from me.

I'm going to keep

doing the things

that I've always

done amongst you.

I'm not going to

change just because

the super apostles

want me to change.

And why does he

refuse to change?

Well, we learn

in verse 11,

it's because

he loves them.

If Paul was to

suddenly change

because of pressure

from the super apostles,

that would be a

very unloving

thing to do.

For it would cause

the Corinthians

to doubt

his gospel message.

If he was to

bend to their

pressure and become

more like them,

he would end up

proclaiming a very

different Jesus

and the way he

lived would no

longer back up

his message.

it would throw

doubt on his

credibility.

It would throw

doubt on his

integrity if he

suddenly started

preaching a different

gospel.

And it would throw

doubt on his

distinctiveness.

He would look no

different to these

super apostles anymore.

Paul will remain

consistent.

He won't change

his message to

suit himself.

He will teach the

gospel faithfully

in a way that

promotes Jesus

and not himself.

Why does he do

it?

Because he loves

Jesus and he

loves the people

he is teaching.

And he wants them

to understand this

true gospel and

to stick to it.

Okay.

Verses 12 to 11.

Are you aware of

the enemy or are

you letting your

guard down?

So Paul has spent

much of 2 Corinthians

defending his

ministry and

convincing the

Corinthians to get

on board with his

teaching.

Now he wants to

expose the

super apostles for

who they truly

are.

They aren't just

pesky rivals but

they are really

dangerous enemies

of Christ.

You probably saw

the strong language

in verses 12 to

15.

So for much of

Paul's ministry he

has been going

around Europe taking

the gospel with him

proclaiming it to

people who have

never heard about

Jesus but he is

being followed

around Europe by

these false

teachers.

They have popped

up everywhere that

he had been.

They were people who

had positions of

authority in church

in leading and in

teaching.

They had influence

and when they spoke

others listened.

Now we heard a

little bit about

these guys in

Acts chapter 20

Acts 20 · chapter mention

as Paul said his

final words to the

elders of the

Ephesian church, a

church much like

Corinth.

He warned them

about such people

and I've just got

the relevant bit

up on the screen

and he says,

I know that

after I leave

savage wolves

will come in

among you

and will not

spare the

flock.

Even from

your own

number men

will arise

and distort

the truth

in order to

draw away

disciples after

them.

So be on

your guard.

That's in

Acts 20

but back in

our passage

in verse 13

Paul is

warning the

Corinthians of a

very similar

thing.

Paul calls

these guys

false teachers

he calls them

deceitful

workers.

They are

liars and

they disguise

themselves as

true Christians

and true

teachers of the

Bible.

The passage

says that they

masquerade as

apostles of

Christ.

Now

the masquerade

language just

means to

go about in

disguise.

So you might

have heard of a

masquerade

ball.

These were

really popular

in the past

and people

would go

around with

masks on

to disguise

themselves.

They wanted

to veil

their true

identity

and in the

same way

these deceitful

false teaching

super apostles

wear these

masks and

seek to veil

their true

identity.

But Paul

wants to

strip these

masks from

their faces

and expose

them for

who they

truly are

loud and

clear.

Verse 15

we read

they are

servants of

Satan.

And Paul

explains that

even Satan

himself disguises

himself as a

angel of

light.

So it's no

surprise then

that his

followers likewise

pretend to be

something that

they are not.

And these

false teachers

they don't

just keep

to themselves

but they

seek to

infiltrate

weed their

way in

and they

seek to

disrupt

churches

just like

their

master.

Now we

as Christians

living in

the 21st

century we

must also

be aware

of the

spiritual

reality of

these things

even in

our day.

This wasn't

just an

issue back

then but

it's a

contemporary

issue too.

There are

enemies of

the gospel

who are

wittingly

or unwittingly

carrying out

the will of

Satan.

They oppose

Jesus.

They oppose

his church.

And Paul

told the

Ephesian

elders to

be on

their guard

and we

too are

to be on

our guard

against false

teachers and

false teaching.

But I

don't want

you to

freak out.

We're not

to start

freaking out

and start

looking around

every corner

for things

which aren't

as they

seem.

We are

to have

a quiet

confidence

in our

strong and

mighty

Savior and

in his

spirit which

leads us

and dwells

within us.

We must

know that

Satan is

active and

his agents

are active

but we

also must

know that

Christ is

also active

and he is

sitting on

his throne

today.

he has

already

claimed the

victory.

But what

of these

false

teachers?

Well we

read in

verse 15

these

false

teachers

will get

what their

actions

deserve

for opposing

Jesus and

siding with

Satan.

Their end

has already

been declared

but we

must still

be on our

guard today.

So as we

seek to

apply this

passage and

bring it to

a close I

want us to

think about

two D's.

We're going

to think

about devotion

and we're

going to

think about

discernment.

So let's

first think

about our

devotion.

Have you

gotten on

board with

Jesus?

Now we

thought about

that at

the beginning

these

Corinthians

were being

led away

from the

Jesus that

they knew.

Have you

gotten on

board with

Jesus?

Have you

trusted in

his death

and resurrection?

so that you

might be

saved from

your sins?

Are you

a Christian?

And if

so, how

is your

devotion to

Jesus?

Maybe you've

been following

for a long

time, maybe

a short

time.

Do you

love him?

Do you

love Jesus?

Some of us

have known

him for

quite a long

time.

Do you

still love

him?

love him?

Or have

you forsaken

the love

that you

had for

him at

first?

Are you

living faithfully

to him

like in a

faithful

marriage?

Or is

there anything

getting in

the way of

your relationship

with him?

God is

jealous for

our affection.

He deserves

our everything.

Are we

giving him

the love

he deserves?

do we

still love

him?

Are you

entertaining

anything in

your life

that might

lead you

astray from

him?

Is the

Jesus or

the spirit

or the

gospel that

you're

settling for

actually a

forgery of

the real

thing?

How does

it match

up to what

you first

learned?

Secondly,

we need to

think about

our discernment.

We need to

carefully examine

the message

and the

messenger.

This means

examining what

I or

Graham or

Archie or

any of the

elders or

anybody who

comes up the

front on a

Sunday,

examining what

they say.

Are we

saying what

the Bible

says?

And that's

why we

often tell

you to keep

your Bibles

open on the

pews and to

scan through

as we teach

to see if we

are saying what

the Bible

passage is

saying.

Now, maybe

in the future

if you move

to another

town, you

might be

church searching,

you might be

looking for a

good gospel

church somewhere,

or maybe you

might find

yourself in the

future looking

to appoint a

new pastor.

Now, if you

ever find

yourselves in

one of those

situations, if

you're looking

for someone to

come and lead

you spiritually,

I want you to

remember this

passage and

don't aim for

impressiveness.

Don't aim for

people who can

achieve results.

Don't even look

for people who

are entertaining.

Paul doesn't

value those

things.

First, if you

find yourself in

one of these

situations, either

looking for a

church or looking

to appoint someone

new, ask

yourself this

question first.

Does this

teacher know

Jesus personally?

Do they actually

love Jesus and

love his people?

Do they speak

well of Jesus?

Do they say

true things about

him?

Does what they

say stack up

with what the

Bible says?

The way people

speak about

Jesus shows

whether they are

devoted to him

or not.

We need to

carefully examine

the messenger.

We thought about

examining the

message.

What do they

say?

We need to

examine the

messenger.

Do they have

a godly

character?

Jesus says

that you can

tell a

scammer from

a faithful

teacher by

the fruit that

they bear.

I've got some

more verses.

This is from

Matthew chapter

seven.

Jesus says

these words,

watch out for

false prophets.

They come to

you in sheep's

clothing, but

inwardly they

are ferocious

wolves.

By their

fruit you will

recognize them.

Do people pick

grapes from

thorn bushes or

figs from

thistles?

Likewise, every

good tree bears

good fruit, but

a bad tree bears

bad fruit.

Skipping on,

thus by their

fruit you will

recognize them.

These messengers.

Now their message

might be really

good.

These guys, they

might look like

the real deal,

but how do they

treat people?

How are they

with their

families?

What are they

like in the

pews after the

service?

What are they

like in the

tea and coffee

time?

How do they

treat people?

What are they

like?

What is their

character like?

We need to be

examining these

people's character

and see if the

fruit that they

are bearing in

their lives, if

it is good

fruit.

So examine the

fruit that they

bear in their

lives.

Now like the

experts in fraud

detection, so you

know these people

who examine

money, they

look out for

money that's

fake.

These people, they

know the paper

money so well.

They know all

its patterns and

its intricacies.

They know all the

things that should

be there on that

note.

So that when

something else

comes along that's

a fake, they can

see straight away,

oh hold on a

minute, it doesn't

have this or it

doesn't have that.

Now another

example might be

thinking about

painting.

So by knowing

the characteristics

of a famous

painter's work, so

maybe the brush

strokes that they

tend to employ or

the colour

combinations that

they prefer, by

knowing their work

so well, the

things that they

use in their

work, when a

fake comes along

you will spot it a

mile off because

it will fail to

match up with the

real thing.

So how closely

does the

messenger resemble

Jesus?

The more time

that we spend

getting to know

Jesus, seeing

how Jesus loves

others, seeing

how Jesus trusted

the Father, seeing

how Jesus acted

not in his own

interests but in

the interests of

others, as we see

him more and more

clearly, as we know

what he looks like,

then the more

clearly you can tell

one of his true

messengers.

his messengers

should look like

Jesus.

We need to know

our messengers, we

need to know what

they look like, their

lives.

Now this is why we

shouldn't depend on

online preachers to

teach us.

Now I'm not talking

about those who

for our live stream

is a bit of a

lifeline because they

can't be with us,

but we need to be

wary of depending on

online teaching to

supplement our

understanding of the

Bible.

There's a lot of

very good teaching

online, I'm not

denying that, but

there's a lot of

false teaching on

there too.

And sometimes it's

hard to tell the

difference.

The online pastor

might preach a

really good message,

but you don't

actually know them.

You can't examine

their character, you

don't know what

their motives are,

and you can't

examine how they

love others because

you've never seen

them in action.

God intended his

word to be taught

in the local

church.

So if you can, if

you're able, sit

under the teaching of

one of the leaders in

the local church.

And if that's here in

Brunsfield, we love

that we have you

here.

But if not, if you're

ever looking for a

church, sit under the

teaching of the local

church, listen

carefully, and see,

examine those local

leaders, those local

messengers.

And finally, so we've

thought about examining

the message and the

messenger, but how do

we discern carefully

that D, that second

D?

How do we do it?

How do we discern

well?

Well, we must examine

the message and the

messenger prayerfully

and with one

another.

We must discern

these things

prayerfully.

We must ask God for

clarity as we sit in

church.

We must ask for his

help as we sit and

listen.

That's something that we

can be doing as we

come to church.

Lord, would you be

speaking to me today?

And would you be

helping the person

that's going to be

standing up?

Would you help them to

speak the truth today?

So we must pray, we

must discern prayerfully,

and we must do these

things together, united.

As a church family, we

need to be depending on

Jesus to keep leading

us and to help us to

spot things that come

up which maybe aren't

quite right.

We must do these

things together.

This is not about

examining the person

sitting in the pew next

to you this morning,

sussing them out.

This is not about

taking cheap shots at

our leaders when they

teach us something that

we are uncomfortable

with.

This is about whether

the message that's

preached from the

front is the message

of the Bible.

And this is whether

the character, the

person that's standing

up, whether their

character matches up

with our great teacher

and Lord Jesus.

And please pray for us

too.

Pray for us, your

church leaders.

Pray for all those who

are involved in teaching

in church, whether it's

in creche or Sunday

school or in growth

groups or preaching on

a Sunday.

Please pray for us.

Please pray for all

those people.

Ask God to help us to

teach what the Bible

says, not anything

more, not anything

less, and ask God to

help us depend on him

as we do it.

Please pray for us that

we would be depending

on our Lord Jesus to

speak through us on a

Sunday.

And not through any

sort of self-confidence

but through the

strength that he

provides.

So I'm going to pray

and then we're going to

hand back over to the

band.

Let's pray.

Our Lord Jesus, we

thank you for preserving

us.

This message in 2

Corinthians, thank you

for the good and true

things that we can learn

from it, even today

after so many years

since it was written.

Thank you that you

deliberately preserved

these words for us.

They are your words.

This is your gospel, your

message.

Lord, I pray for each

one of us here today,

whether we know you or

not.

I pray that we would be

drawn to you, that we

would see you for who

you are, the true king

over the universe, over

your creation, who has

died for the sins of the

world, who's died to

suffer in our place so

that we could be saved

from our sins.

I pray that we would be

drawn to you, that we

would love you, Lord,

that we would grow in our

love for you.

Lord, some of us, we

may have become cold to

you.

Lord, I just pray that

you'd reignite in us a

love for you and a love

for your people.

I pray that we would be

devoted to you and hold

fast the gospel.

And Lord, I pray for us as

a church that we would be

on our guard, that we would

be aware that we do have

an enemy, but one that you

have conquered over already

and who still has plans and

ways that he seeks to

infiltrate and disrupt our

church.

But we pray that we would

hold fast to our Lord Jesus

and that we would remain

devoted to you and we

would discern these things

prayerfully.

We'd be looking at your

word and seeing how it

stacks up with what's

being preached at the

front and that we would

be just depending on you

together as a church

family to lead us and

remain faithful to you.

And so, Lord, I just want

to pray all these things in

the name of our powerful

Lord Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.