Faithful Shepherd?
Or False Shepherd?
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 11:1-15
I. Faithful shepherds want a church devoted to Jesus; false shepherds want a church devoted to another Jesus.
- Paul was the Corinthians’ spiritual father. He had led the Corinthian church to faith in Christ. And since the church is the bride of Christ, Paul is preparing the church to be given in marriage to Jesus (vs. 2). Just like Satan had lied to Eve to pull her away from God and her husband Adam, now the false shepherds in Corinth were pulling the Corinthians away from Jesus (vs. 3).
- The false shepherds were selling another Jesus (vs. 4) to the Corinthians. Their Jesus was not the real Jesus. Paul wanted the Corinthians to maintain their sincere and pure devotion to the real Christ (vs. 3). But the false shepherds, the super-apostles (vs. 5), were selling the church Powerful Jesus, Prosperity Jesus, and Judgment-Free Jesus. We need the real Jesus, not another Jesus. We need the Jesus who came to die for our sins and bring us forgiveness.
II. Faithful shepherds are humble; false shepherds are proud.
- Paul tells the Corinthians that they would be fools to stop listening to someone who loved them like Paul did. What did the false shepherds call themselves (vs. 5)? Super-apostles! They proudly boasted that they were superheroes, while the weak Paul wasn’t even a hero. Paul admits in vs. 6 that he is unskilled in speaking. But he also says in vs. 6 that he is not unskilled in knowledge. He knows Jesus. The real Jesus. And he shared his knowledge of Jesus with others.
- One way that Paul showed his humility is found in vs. 7. Paul preached God’s gospel free of charge. The false shepherds charged people for their “great” teaching. Paul would not charge money because the Gospel is a Gospel of grace. Paul acted just like Jesus. We read of our Savior’s humility in Philippians 2:8: “And being found in human form, (Jesus) humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
III. Faithful shepherds are servants of righteousness; false shepherds are servants of Satan.
- Not only were the super-apostles in the church exploiting the people. They were lying to the people. They were false apostles (vs. 13). They weren’t speaking the truth about Jesus or Paul. Paul says the disguise and the deceit of the super-apostles makes them servants of Satan (vs. 15). You can tell the true servants of righteousness by what they teach about Jesus. Listen to what Paul teaches about Jesus and righteousness in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Application:
Turn away from false shepherds and be devoted to the real Jesus.
Sources:
The Bible
Commentaries by Trent Casto, David Garland, and Gary Millar
Sermon Discussion Questions
1) What were the false shepherds teaching about Jesus? Who are some of the other Jesuses that the false shepherds promoted? Who is “another” Jesus being promoted by false shepherds today?
2) Why is it a bad sign when a pastor/shepherd is full of pride? How did both Jesus and Paul reveal their humility as good shepherds?
3) Is Paul too strong in calling the false shepherds servants of Satan? If not, how were they acting like they were on Satan’s team? How do faithful shepherds teach and live since they are servants of righteousness?