In Defense of Authority and Leadership

Transcript

GR 1822
11/22/2015
In Defense of Authority and Leadership
2 Corinthians 10:7-18
Gil Rugh

Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 10. Once you get there you may want to put a marker there, we're going to move around a little bit before we get into this section itself. Some of what we look at will enable us to move through the section itself a little more quickly.

We noted 2 Corinthians 10-13 form a closing unit to this letter and they are basically about the Apostle Paul defending his apostolic leadership for the church at Corinth and attacking those who have opposed it and undermined it. I was thinking this week, if there is one church in the New Testament I would have liked to visit and have had opportunities, if I were going to pick out a church that I could go visit, it would have been the church at Corinth. And I wouldn't necessarily have wanted to be the pastor of the church at Corinth, but there are so many things going on in this church, so many issues in a church that is constantly dealing with conflict and factions. And the Apostle Paul would seem to have his hands full with this church but it's just one of a number of churches that he was used by God to establish and responsible to oversee.

As I was studying this I thought of Paul and Moses, in many ways they struck me as having similarities. Moses was the man that God raised up to provide leadership for the nation Israel in the beginning of its functioning as a nation. It's as we noted when it comes out of Egypt, it comes out as a nation and is established as a nation with its constitution basically being the Mosaic covenant and Moses and its focal leader. When God establishes the church in the New Testament Paul becomes the prime leader, for the church will become Gentile in its primary makeup and Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles. So he has a key role in providing leadership for the church.

I want to take you back to the book of Numbers, we'll start in chapter 11. I haven't made an exhaustive list of passages for us, but just a reminder of what Moses had to deal with in leading God's people and we'll see some of the similarities when we move in and talk further about Paul's leadership. Begins early, Numbers 11:1, “Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord. When the Lord heard it His anger was kindled and fire burned among them” and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. They cry out to Moses. You'll note verse 4, “The rabble who were among them had greedy desires and also the sons of Israel wept and said, who will give us meat to eat.” And the rabble here were some of the non-Israelites who chose to join Israel in their exodus. Some of you remember the account. They didn't have the same commitment and faith in the God of Israel, they evidently joined for other reason. But they begin to have an influence among the Jews. So we are told the rabble among them had greedy desires and also the sons of Israel wept again. I mention that because when we get to 2 Corinthians 11 Paul is going to face a similar kind of situation. What he is dealing with at Corinth is a church he established and it's made up of believers, but unbelieving influences have made their way into that church. And it's impacting the believers in the church at Corinth. In that sense a similar situation and it will create a growing and continuing discontent with the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

Over in Numbers 12:1, “Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married. And they said, has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Hasn't He spoken through us as well? Then the Lord heard it.” It's continuing attack on the leadership of Moses, the one appointed by God. And here it comes from the family, his brother and sister raising a complaint against Moses' leadership. We can lead as well. They don't approve of the wife he married. Evidently the Lord has no problem with it because we're told the Lord heard it and since God had appointed Moses the questions asked down at the end of verse 8, “Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? So the anger of the Lord burned against them.”

Come over to Numbers 14:1, “Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.” Here we go again. This is because some of the spies brought back a bad report when they went into the land God had promised for them. What did you bring us out here for? To die in the wilderness? And so on. Complaining about that.

You come over to Numbers 16, this is probably the most familiar account to us. This is the account of a man named Korah and those who joined with him. Korah is another family member of Moses. Korah is a cousin of Moses. Their fathers were brothers, Moses' father was a brother to Korah's father. So here you have a family member and they are of the tribe of Levi and Korah thinks he has every much right to be leader among the people and a priest as Aaron does. So he has some associate with him, verse 1, Korah is the most well-known to us, we won't read all of it. Then verse 2 says, “They rose up before Moses together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled against Moses and Aaron and said to them, you have gone far enough, all the congregation are holy, every one of them. The Lord is in their midst, so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” And the attacks and the opposition to the leadership goes on. And God deals with this firmly, this is the well-known account, the ground opens up and swallows Korah and fire come out from the Lord and all 250 of these important men who chose to follow Korah and his rebellion against Moses are consumed.

You would think that would make an impression. It lasts one day because verse 41 says, “On the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying, you are the ones who caused the death of the Lord's people.” It's your fault, not theirs. Now they just had the ground opened up by the Lord, fire came down from God and they said, you are at fault. If it's their fault, why did God destroy these other people? At any rate you see the conflict goes on.

You come over to 1 Corinthians 1, just to review, Paul faced a continuing ongoing situation with this particular church, the Corinthians. He had problems in other churches like the Galatian churches to be sure, but the Corinthian church is a problem constantly beset by divisions. And the divisions always come in the context of opposition to Paul's leadership and disagreement over whether Paul ought to be providing the leadership, and whether he is the best person to do it. This is his first letter as we have it, 1 Corinthians, and look at 1 Corinthians 1:10. “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all agree that there be no divisions among you, that you be made complete in the same mind and the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying I am of Paul, I of Apollos, I of Cephas, I of Christ. Has Christ been divided? Did Paul get crucified for you?” I mean, where does this division come from? There is only one Lord and Savior for the church and we are gathered in submission to Him. Down in verse 30 he will tell them, “By His doing you are in Christ Jesus.” This is the work of God that placed you in Christ. So we are unified in Him.

Down in 1 Corinthians 2:3, and this pervades chapter 1 and we have been here a number of times. Paul reminds them that he didn't come with worldly wisdom to win them to Christ, he came with the truth of God concerning Christ, which the world views as foolishness. And we are in a Greek world that loves wisdom. Paul didn't come with worldly wisdom, and he reminds them in 1 Corinthians 2:3, “I was with you in weakness, in fear, in much trembling.” Remember if you were here at our previous study of 2 Corinthians 10, this is the way he started out. The influence that had come into the church at Corinth was using that as an evidence of Paul's lack of leadership ability, lack of being the man that God would appoint to lead. “I was with you in weakness, fear, much trembling, my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom.” You weren't impressed with my oratory, something the Greeks admired. “But it was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” And the wisdom we speak is a wisdom that is understood by those who have experienced the transforming grace of God and have His Spirit. The natural man doesn't appreciate it. And all the way back in 1 Corinthians he was dividing among the group there. This will become clearest when we get to 2 Corinthians 11 and he comes all out in his attack on the false apostles that have infiltrated the church at Corinth.

In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul begins, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual men but as men of flesh, as infants in Christ. I gave you milk and not meat.” You can't handle the meat, you are fleshly. There is jealousy and strife among you. “Are you not fleshly? You are walking like mere men. One says I am of Paul, another I am of Apollos. Aren't you mere men?” In other words you are walking and conducting yourselves like you don't have the Holy Spirit. This is the way the world conducts itself, it gathers around its favorite leaders. We are seeing this as we have the individuals present themselves for President. I like his demeanor, I like the way he can present himself in a debate, he shows intelligence and an intellect and a grasp of this, he is presidential. The world looks at all these external things. Paul says this is the way you are functioning. I like Paul because of this, I like Apollos. He evidently was a man of eloquence that God chose to use. “Who are we,” Paul says in verse 5. “We are servants through whom you believed.” It's not the job of servants and slaves to gather a following around themselves. We are just here representing the One who is the Lord that you should be following. So you see the division there that Paul has to address.

Down in 1 Corinthians 3:18, “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish that he may become wise.” That's what he talked about back in chapter 1 and into chapter 2, because the wisdom of God is salvation by grace through faith in Christ. The Greeks thought that was foolishness, moronic. You are going to have to become a fool, take hold of God's wisdom. “The wisdom of this world is foolishness before Christ. The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, they are useless. So then let no one boast in men,” verse 21. He had already told them back in 1 Corinthians 1:31, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” He will be referring to that at the end of 2 Corinthians 10, quoting from the same verse from Jeremiah 9. The Corinthians have to constantly have their attention drawn back, they are dividing over this, they are dividing over that, they have this person and that person.

1 Corinthians 4, “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God. And it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” But then what does Paul have to say? It's a very small thing that I may be examined by you, I don't even examine myself. But even though I have a clear conscience, God will ultimately be the One to decide. “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time.” What is he talking about? What's going on at the church at Corinth and the attacks that are made on his position as the apostle used by God to establish this church, nurture this church and build it to maturity. Down in verse 15, “If you were to have countless tutors in Christ, you would not have many fathers. In Christ Jesus I became your Father through the Gospel.” Stop and think, who led you to Christ? Who has nurtured you in Christ? Why are they rejecting Paul's leadership and teaching in the church? Down in verse 18, “Now some have become arrogant as though I were not coming to you.” This will become a strong emphasis in the section we will be in in 2 Corinthians 10. “I will come to you if the Lord wills, I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power.” Verse 21, “What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness?” Almost the same thing is said at the end of the second letter. It's an ongoing struggle and issue, this church to appreciate and submit to the leadership and teaching of Paul.

Come over to 1 Corinthians 9:1, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you. You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord, my defense to those who examine me is this.” The attacks on him, why does he have to say this? Why is his apostleship under question? How is it that these who come in later can undermine the confidence completely that they had in the Apostle Paul who led them to Christ, who has nurtured them. He spent eighteen months here, trying to establish them and build them in the Word.

Over to 1 Corinthians 11:17, “But in giving this instruction I do not praise you because you come together not for the better but for the worse. In the first place when you come together as a church I hear that divisions exist among you. In part I believe it for there must also be factions among you so that those who are approved may become evident among you.” The factions serve a purpose, Paul is going to deal with that in chapter 11 of the second letter as he points out there are those promoting error, false apostles. How does the church get dragged into these things and confused by them?

Over in 1 Corinthians 15, major doctrinal error. In verse 12, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?” See what happens, they come in and question Paul and things about his person, his appearance, we'll be into in a moment in the second letter. And then you’ll find what happens is with this comes what? Doctrinal erosion. Now there are some in the church at Corinth who were teaching that there was no bodily resurrection, and there is no bodily resurrection. We are at foundational truth. How does this get any kind of hold in the church at Corinth? They were being turned away from the leadership of the apostle God had appointed for them.

And in 1 Corinthians 16:10, it tells you something about the church that Paul has to write this at the end of the letter. “Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without cause to be afraid.” You see something of the atmosphere of the church at Corinth. “He is doing the Lord's work as I also am.” Here comes a faithful, proven servant of the Lord and Paul has to tell the Corinthians, don't make him afraid. He's going to go there and there is going to be a hostile environment. “Let no one despise him.” What a thing to have to say to the church about a godly man coming who shares in the ministry of the Apostle Paul, let no one despise him. This doesn't mean the whole church would, the whole church ought to take on the responsibility to put an end to what is going on there. This is why Paul keeps writing these letters before he comes.

And you come into the second letter and in 2 Corinthians 1 we saw in verse 12ff, Paul there picks up with the second letter the same place he was in the previous one. “Our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, in the grace of God we have conducted ourselves in the world and toward you.” He has to defend himself, has to say I have been genuine with you. I am not a man who says one thing and does another. You remember the argument down through the rest of the first chapter, all about he changed his travel plans. If it's not about his appearance, it's about his speaking ability; if it's not about his speaking ability, it's about the intellectual or lack of intellect he displays in his preaching; if not that, it's he doesn't tell the truth because he changed his plans. And if you can't trust him with his travel plans, can you trust him on the doctrine of the resurrection? It just goes on and on.

Down in 2 Corinthians 1:23, and you'll remember this from what we just read in some passages in the first letter. “I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth.” Like he asked earlier in the first letter, should I come with a rod? I don't want to come to discipline you, I want that all to be taken care of, as we have talked about.

In 2 Corinthians 2 “I determined this for my own sake, I would not come to you in sorrow again.” I don't want to make you unhappy, and I don't want my coming to you to be a cause of sorrow. I want us to look forward to being together, but we don't compromise truth to get along, so I'm writing so you correct the thing that ought to be changed.

In 2 Corinthians 3, “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need as some letters of commendation to you?” Remember the preceding verse as we have it here, 2 Corinthians 2:17, “We are not like the many, peddling the Word of God.” And there were those who had infiltrated the church at Corinth who were peddling the Word of God. That's part of what Paul has to deal with that he'll get to in specifics in 2 Corinthians 11. Do we need letters to commend us to you? I'm the one who came when none of you were believers and preached the Gospel and you were saved, and established the church and spent 18 months there, building my life into you, teaching you the Word and writing you letters. And now you think I ought to have a letter of reference? These false teachers come, they come as Johnny-come-latelies. They ought to come and they bring a letter of recommendation and all of a sudden they have credibility and I have none. I shouldn't need a letter of recommendation. And I could get personal, I shouldn't need a letter of recommendation to you, either. I have been here 46 years so why should I need a letter of recommendation, right? Now you get a new pastor, I'm not saying you will be, some day, you'll ask for letters of recommendation, right? So these come with letters of recommendation.

2 Corinthians 5:11, “Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God and I hope that we are made manifest in your consciences. We are not commending ourselves to you but giving you an occasion to . . .” I just want you to know your confidence in us is well-placed. This becomes key and where we will be picking up when we get to chapter 10. “So you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance, not in heart.” And that's the problem, they've lost sight of what really matters.

It's the same in 2 Corinthians 6:11, “Our mouth has spoken freely to you, our heart is open wide.” We are not restraining you, but you have held back your affections from us. 2 Corinthians 7:2, “Make room for us in your hearts, we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.” I mean, I don't want to condemn you, I love you. I see myself bound together with you in life and death.

So we come to 2 Corinthians 10 and we looked at the first six verses and you see still the pattern goes, it's not done. “Now I Paul, myself, urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” And of course I know what the opponents say, I am meek when face to face but bold when absent. I want to be like Christ, manifest His character. And that's how I conduct myself. And I ask that when I am present I don't need to be bold. I don't want to come. We talked about this section. We are in a war and we're in a battle and part of this takes place within the church as well as without the church. I mean everything Paul, we've read in these letters has to do with things going in within the church at Corinth. It's not about the pagan Romans or the pagan Greeks or those kinds of things. We're talking about in the church at Corinth. And the error and the false teaching, that has gotten hold within the church. So we talk about we don't walk in the flesh, we live in the physical body but we don't war according to the flesh, the battle is spiritual. These are battles that have to go on within the church as well as without.

So Paul said in verse 6, “We are ready to punish all disobedience whenever your obedience is complete.” That's why he has written. And it's not that I'm reluctant to deal with what has to be dealt with, but I would rather give you time and have you deal with it. There are things that are going to have to be dealt with in the church at Corinth. Wouldn't it be much better if the church at Corinth stepped up and said, enough, the false teachers have to go and we have to get in line. And we're looking forward to Paul coming. What a difference. If they don't, Paul will come and he will have to deal with it, and it's going to be unpleasant for everyone.

Look at verse 7, “For you are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone has confidence in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ's, so are we.” This may be an attack on Paul's salvation. We noted in our last study that in chapter 13 he'll tell them, verse 5, to examine themselves, make sure they are in the faith. He's going to deal in chapter 11 with some he thinks are not in the faith. And then he says I hope you will realize I am also, one who has my faith in Christ. This could have a follow-up, back in 2 Corinthians 10:7, not only is he Christ's by faith in him, he is Christ's by divine appointment as a servant of His, because he's going to come down to his apostolic ministry. And some of these are false apostles, claiming to represent Christ. They claim they belong to Christ, they don't recognize I belong to Christ also. “And we are ready to punish all disobedience,” verse 6, because he belongs to Christ.

Verse 8, “For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be put to shame.” People start looking at outward things, evaluating things externally. They think Paul is not as qualified and as appealing as these other men. You are looking at things outwardly, talking to the church at Corinth. Gets confused. We'll boast about our authority, we belong to Christ, He has appointed me as apostle with authority to be exercised. The Lord gave it to us, I haven't appointed myself. This is where he is going. Some have appointed themselves as leaders and apostles, I was appointed by God. And He appointed me with authority to build you up, not destroy you. And I won't be put to shame. In other words I will use my authority as God intends it. But he did say in verse 5, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.” But as far as for believers his authority is for nurturing and building them up. He's not here to destroy the church at Corinth, he's here to build it up. That's what the gifts are given for. We won't go back but in 1 Corinthians 14:12 he said that you have been given a gift by God to build up the body. Ephesians 4 he wrote about it, all the gifts work together; the body builds itself up. But when error, improper conduct infiltrates the church, there is a work of seeing that it is taken down, removed.

Come back to Jeremiah 1, God's call to Jeremiah. Verse 5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I consecrated you.” And Paul's testimony to the Galatians was he was appointed an apostle from his mother's womb. “I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” The end of verse 7, “Everywhere I send you, you shall go; all that I command you, you shall speak.” This will be Paul's emphasis through the rest of 2 Corinthians 10—I have been appointed by God, I go where God tells me, I say what He tells me to say and I go where He sends me to go. The end of Jeremiah 1:9, “I have put My words in your mouth,” now note verse 10, “see, I have appointed you this day over the nations, over the kingdoms to pluck up, to break down, to destroy, to overthrow, to build and to plant.” And Paul will have a similar ministry. For the church at Corinth it is a building ministry, but for the error that infiltrates, the false teachers who infiltrate, it is a ministry of destruction. They must be torn down, they must be removed. We're not going to have a get-along church, where if you believe in a bodily resurrection or you don't believe in a bodily resurrection, we can still get along. If you want to recognize the authority of Paul, okay, but if you want to recognize the authority of this person, that's okay. No, there is going to be a housecleaning and repair going on. And that's consistent.

Come over to Titus 1, after the apostles are off the scene, elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit, Acts 20:28 says, to provide the leadership for the church. They all have the same kind of ministry. Titus is a faithful man like Timothy and carries out similar ministries on behalf of the Apostle Paul. Titus 1:5, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.” Some of the qualifications of the elders are mentioned. Down in verse 9, they are to be “holding fast the faithful Word which is in accordance with the teaching so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute.” The building up and the taking down, the destroying those things set up and the teaching contrary to God's truth and the nurturing and the healthy doctrine. Why? There are many “rebellious men, empty talkers, deceivers, especially those of the circumcision who must be silenced.” We get more into those characters and characteristics in 2 Corinthians 11, where Paul says they are simply agents of the devil.

Now that doesn't mean everyone caught up in this (come back to 2 Corinthians) is an unbeliever, an agent of the devil. Paul's concern is some of the believers are being confused and that's what causes questions about his leadership. If it were just these false teachers, it would be easy to deal with. But once it begins to spread, the church at Corinth begins to experience divisions again and this and that and the other thing.

Back in 2 Corinthians 10, you see what they say. Verse 9, “I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters, for they say his letters are weighty and strong, his personal impressive is unimpressive, his speech contemptible.” This is what some of these teachers who have come in are saying. Yes, great letter but when he's there . . . And it makes an impact. You have this person who may be handsome and dynamic and good with words, and you think back, I remember when Paul was here. We appreciated him but he wasn't very dynamic. Remember this is the guy who put the young man asleep in one of his services and he fell out the window and got killed on the street and Paul had to raise him up. They may have a point. I would expect God would send representatives that can compete with the world.

I've shared with you in a previous study, it's what neo-evangelicalism said when they started in the '40s, have taken over the evangelical church. We have to be recognized by the world, they have to appreciate our intellectual abilities. We are not called to compete on that level. Nothing is new. We don't know what Paul looked like, probably wouldn't be one of the stars today, in that sense.

Verse 11, “Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such person we are indeed when present.” I'm the same person but it is really the kind of father you would think ought to be, if he delights in having to discipline his children all the time. This is his delight, as we've talked about, when you just could have a loving relationship because they are not rebelling. Note what Paul is saying, I'm the same person. Don't mistake my love for weakness. I don't want to have to deal with it when I come, I don't want to have to display my authority in its destructive power when I come. I want to display my love and pour my life into building you up. But when I come you'll find that I am the man I write about in the letters because if what is not corrected in the letter is not corrected when I get there, it will be dealt with boldly.

Verse 12, “For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves.” A little bit of irony, sarcasm here. We're not putting ourselves into the same category as those who commend themselves, “but when they measure themselves by themselves, compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.” This is a self-evaluating, self-promoting group. They have no objective standards by which they evaluate themselves. Remarkable. What do they say? It's all on appearance, it's all on the external. When you don't have any external objective standard, what are you left with? What happens to our country? There was a time even unbelievers acknowledged something of the authority of the Bible, even though they hadn't obeyed its message and that. Now we throw out all external authority, what are we left with? How people feel, what they think. We don't even know what a boy and a girl are. Now I understand you are supposed to let a boy who thinks he's a girl, use the girl's locker room. Every teenage boy in the country is going to be transgender. It’s silliness, it's goofiness. Well how do we know? That's what they think. And we think, where does it all go? There is no objective standard. You can't say this is right, you can't say this is wrong, you can't say this, you can't say that.

There are these false teachers, these leaders, they commend themselves, they bring letters from someone like themselves. And all of a sudden Paul is there. Well, look at him, who would you rather have as a leader? This person or the unimpressive? Listen to this man speak, listen to Paul. Who would you rather have? That's the kind of thing that goes on. Any wonder the church is divided? Everyone establishes himself here and here and here. We have self-appointed, and the church is fractured even as it was back in the first letter.

Verse 13, “We will not boast beyond our measure.” They measure themselves by themselves in verse 12, but in verse 13, “We will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, even to go as far as you.” That word measure, metron, that's a measure. We use it in music, to keep the beat. Come back to Romans 12:3, and Paul writes the letter to the Romans, remember, when he does visit Corinth, while he is at Corinth after the second letter has been written. Verse 3, “For through the grace given to me,” and he's talking about spiritual gifts in the context, that's the grace given to him, his spiritual gift as an apostle. “I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think as to have sound judgment, as God has allowed to each a measure,” a metron “of faith.” We have many members in one body, all members don't have the same part. So verse 6, “we have gifts that differ according to the grace given us.” What was measured out as a gift to the Apostle Paul was to be an apostle, but not only the gift but the exercising of the gift. He would be the apostle to the Gentiles. So Paul's claim is, I have God's authority, where does their authority come from? It comes from themselves, men like them who compare themselves with themselves, who have decided they have authority.

So you come back to 2 Corinthians 10:13, “We will not boast beyond our measure,” we're not going beyond what God has appointed for me, measured out to me as an apostle, “within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure.” Remember, you go where I tell you to go, you say what I tell you to say. He appointed us, measured us out as apostles “to go even as far as you” Corinthians. “We are not overextending ourselves,” verse 14, “as if we did not reach to you. We were the first to come even as far as you in the Gospel of Christ.” God appointed us. Remember the argument in 1 Corinthians 9? If I'm not an apostle to someone else, I ought to be to you. You are the result of my apostolic ministry. Where did the church at Corinth come from? Paul came and ministered the Word, nurtured it. We brought you the Gospel, we were the first to come to you as an evidence of God's divine appointment to us, that He had sent us with a message for you and you responded to it and were saved and were nurtured and built up in that faith.

We are “not boasting beyond measure in other men's labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows we will be within our sphere enlarged even more in you.” These false teachers want to come in and take over what Paul has labored for. Paul will have none of it, we will stay on track. He is not timid, not going to say take a vote in the congregation, if you want the false teachers that's all right and I'll just go someplace else. Not Paul. This could get down and dirty but we will stand for the truth. These want to come in, take over someone else's labor, draw off disciples. No, we are not looking to take over somebody else's ministry, we just want to labor among you and help you grow and grow together. As your faith grows, we will be within our sphere enlarged even by you and so you can be used in our lives as we are used in yours, and we'll carry the Gospel even beyond you “so as to preach the Gospel even to the regions beyond you, not to boast what has been accomplished in the sphere of another.”

We've had more than one man come into this ministry and think he ought to be able to take it over. Those who were elders, some of those days, we've had a couple of different staff people at different times who went to the board and appealed that I be removed, I guess so they could take over. Go do your own. Well, we want these people. That's what Paul is dealing with, and the error that comes with it.

Come back to Romans 15:17, “Therefore in Christ I found reason for boasting and things pertaining to God.” Remember, he is writing this from Corinth. “I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentile by word and deed.” He's going on again to talk about the evidence of his apostolic ministry and the Lord using him. Verse 20, “I aspired to preach the Gospel not where Christ was already named, that I would not build on another's foundation.” That doesn't mean that God doesn't use some men to establish churches, some men to come in and pastor and build them. But God doesn't bring them in to change them, lead them away from the truth they were founded on, to undermine the very message that brought them salvation. And what does Paul say? Verse 23, “Now with no further place for me in these regions since I have for many years a longing to come to you, whenever I go to Spain I hope to stop in Rome and visit you.” But he doesn't see Rome as the prime focus of his ministry because there is already a church there. I will visit you and then maybe you'll want to help and contribute to my going on to carry the Gospel to Spain.

Back to 2 Corinthians 10 as he wraps this up. “But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord. It is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.” Quotes from Jeremiah 9:24, that was quoted back in 1 Corinthians 1:31, “let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts, boasts in Me, says the Lord,” summarized from Jeremiah 9:23-24. Paul is not boasting in himself. There are two kinds of boasting as they are used, those who boast in themselves, their gifts, their abilities. We see this in Presidential candidates, they want to tell you all they have done, all their abilities. It's natural. Only my ministry is supernatural, I'm not boasting about my abilities, I'm not boasting about my wisdom, not boasting about my powers of persuasion. I'm boasting in the Lord who by His grace has called and appointed me to ministry, to exercise authority to build you up. That's why I'm concerned for you, for things that would weaken you. Just like you are for your children, you want to have them develop in a healthy way. You are opposed to anyone who would bring anything in, you don't want them taking drugs that will harm their body. Although they will tell them you will feel better if you do this, it will make your cares go away, it will do this. You say no. You will attack them, you will fight against them. That's what Paul is doing, but these are matters of great importance and significance.

“Let him boasts, boast in the Lord.” That's what we want to boast about. We have a God who is great and gracious, He has brought salvation to us through the ministry of His Word. This Word is precious to us, cannot be changed. And to put this in the context as well, God has appointed by the Holy Spirit men to lead this body. There ought not to be rebellion against that leadership. The Holy Spirit has appointed you leader. That solves the problem. Every conflict comes back to an issue of leadership and who will we follow. We follow those whom God has appointed. That's what Paul is telling the church at Corinth. I don't want us to study this and say, that was nice, and we go off and have our own divisions. “The Holy Spirit,” Acts 20:28, “has appointed you elders,” so we submit to the leadership. Shouldn't have been any problem for the Corinthians, it would have taken care of the divisions in the church. That's true down to our very day. Every division we've experienced has been a division brought about by an unwillingness to follow leadership. I can tell you before we get to the battle, the next one will be about leadership. Are we going to submit to the decisions of the leadership or not. If they decide to change the doctrine and say we no longer believe in bodily resurrection. No! If they are not going to be faithful to the Word. Other than that we submit to the leadership. Shouldn't have divided the church at Corinth, and the evangelical church today ought to have a similar pattern. Appoint godly leaders under the direction of the Holy Spirit, then allow the head of the church to do his leadership as he said he will.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for Your grace, that grace that brought salvation to us. Thank You for those that brought the Word to us. Thank You, Lord, for bringing us together as a body of believers to be a testimony of Your grace that in salvation has brought us together in one body under one head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for the leadership You have appointed for this local church, thank You for the ministries You have given to us. Lord, may the truth of Your Word grip our hearts, may we live in obedience. We pray in Christ's name, amen.