But the brethren, oh my soul, other Christians, other denominations—I mean, there is going to be a ton of people coming in to try to tell you something—and Paul knew that ahead of time? Why? I mean, he went through the Acts period, and that is when this is happening. And the people he encountered—the rebuttals, the debates that he did in the marketplace. He knew what was coming. He knew with Peter and those of the circumcision, those that even opposed Gentiles getting saved at the time. There were a lot of encounters which he had with people, and we see that here with his jealousy.
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Corinthians 11:3).
Christian, if you got a King James Bible, you need to do a study on the mind. Sometimes we just pass over it—but folks that preach in prisons—that’s what they deal with the prisoners about, about what is going on in their mind. And they are honest—because they are in prison—and the group therapy class that they have with them is the Word of God being preached to them about certain things and are trying to get them over a lot of things before they get back out into the world.
And then we come around to a lot of Christian people, and it like Duh! Yea, the battle is in the mind. Yea, we know.
Then, if you know that, what are you doing about it? And a lot of times it is just hard to do anything about it. Well, you don’t understand it, but God does it. And God does it because you are honest about it, and you are coming before God and you are talking to God. And guess what else? You are expecting your God to do something. You are expecting it. And that will help your brain out right there, but here in the context, the Apostle Paul is really afraid for this church.
He wrote that first epistle and they had all sorts of carnality in it. And we are living in a day and age today—I’m a dispensationalist, and I’m conservative in that—I chose to be that way. You can go crazy with that stuff, but I would consider myself a moderate dispensationalist. Others might think I’m hyper, but I’m moderate. But anyway, you see the age that we are in, you understand what is going on with Laodicea. Yeah. And if you didn’t believe that that was a type in the Book of Revelation, then, if I was to ask, ‘Is this the age of people’s rights where everybody thinks they are owed something?’ You say, ‘oh, yeah.”
Without doubt, everybody whines about something that’s owed to them. And so, we have a great problem in America with the church—the church is being rocked by this atmosphere. But in that first Corinthian letter, and what I am trying to get back to, is the thought of this—where did Paul find these people? Well, he found them in the community where he was at, which was on that isle, it was a Grecian port. And it had all sorts of gods.
The stuff that we see in America on television that is allowed—without graphically explaining—is everywhere. The atmosphere is sensual, the images are vivid. It’s getting like Europe, like in Germany, where nakedness is not big deal. Everything is everything! But when Paul walked into that city—Corinth—it was open, everywhere! Now, I don’t know about your mind’s eye, but mine says it’s best I don’t go there. Without God, I don’t know how in the world I could keep straight eyeballs, or whatever—to have control of my mind. But you see, Paul was led of the Spirit, therefore he did not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. So, he had something for him going on that we are supposed to have. So, going in there that’s the church he started.
So, what we are looking at is a bunch of people that got saved by the Holy Ghost of God, but guess what, they are flesh. And their habits and behavior were filthy. So, when you read that first letter and you think about things that are going on in that church. It’s almost still better because they are saved—but when you come to the second epistle, where we are right now, it’s no longer just the flesh—and the fleshly behavior that they are doing—no, they graduated, they are getting up there now, they are starting to understand the Spirit, they are getting the power of God to get over some things, to get victory over some things, and guess who shows up? Religion! RELIGION SHOWS UP! The Devil is a pro, man!
Once you think you got this thing figured out, no more smoking dope, no more Jack Daniels, no more this, no more that, God’s given me the victory, Hallelujah! And then, BOOM! the Devil jacks your head up with religion.
You know, if you plead the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the stuff you are doing—He gives you power to get victory. You know, that stuff isn’t going to be up there against you, you do know that, right? The Blood of Jesus Christ’ Blood cleanseth us from all sins. The problem is not occupying. The problem is faith—losing faith. He said, ‘Shall I find faith?’ He told us to ‘Occupy till I come.’ That means to ‘stay by the stuff,’ to stay in there.
And so, the Apostle Paul knows that these people are under attack.
“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things. Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?” (II Corinthians 11:4-7).
He goes on to say . . .
“I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service” (II Corinthians 11:8).
What does he mean? He didn’t ask them for any money—he wasn’t a professional preacher—He was a man of God. He didn’t go there because they had bucks. When he said he robbed other churches, other churches gave him money so that he could go to this church and do what he could do. He had to survive. He didn’t charge them. It would be amazing if some people on TV would stop doing that.
But the text here is verse 3, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
In John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible, I go to a few of those guys and I learn from them, back in the 1800’s. Some of them are Calvinists—some are not—but I know the difference. So, don’t get sucked into something. Amen? If you are a ‘babe in Christ.’ These guys had time to think. They didn’t have all this technology and stuff. So, all they did was the mercy of God, the holiness of God, or the justification of God. They started getting into it, nice and slow. And you glean from the older ones in the 1600’s, the 1700’s, the 1800’s. And how they walked with God. So, that’s why I’m using them.
He says, “But I fear, lest by any means . . .” That phrase, ‘Jealousy is always attended with fear, care, and solicitude, whether in things natural or spiritual. The apostle, as things were in this church, could not but express his fears, lest . . .
“as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty . . .” that is, the old serpent the devil, who made use of a serpent, the most subtle creature of all the beasts of the field, and seduced Eve from her obedience to God, to transgress his command, by eating the forbidden fruit. The apostle here speaks the language and sense of the Jews, who say, that, “Satan and the serpent have one name”, i.e. are the same; and that it was the old serpent (the devil), “that beguiled Eve”, and who is said to be corrupted by him.
So, what the author is saying, the Jews already knew. The serpent and the devil were one. They knew that. As Bible believers, we know that from reading that Bible. Now, the serpent was corrupted first. After that, Eve was corrupted, and after that Adam was corrupted.
So, the Apostle was jealous and fearful knowing that the false apostles were ministers of Satan, artful, cunning men—lest through their craftiness and sophistry, ‘subtilty’—’your minds’ (the Bible says) says he, “should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ,” that is, lest their judgments should be misled, their minds be vitiated with corrupt principles, and be carried away in any degree with the error of the wicked, from off the pure and simple doctrine of the Gospel, which respects the person and grace of Christ; and chiefly lies in this one plain, easy, and important truth, salvation alone by him.
You’ll find it in Corinthians, you’ll find it in Galatians, by Paul. Every religion is trying to attack ‘the simplicity that is in Christ,’ today, all of them. Intellectually, even physically. It’s a mess out there.
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;” (I Corinthians 15:1).
Speaking to those that are saved—that received the same Gospel that he preached.
Now, I use these authors and expositors, but I am really trying to keep it simple with this here, with transcript and trying not to get off track too much, with the way my mind goes. But just so you can get the simplicity of these doctrines that we believe. And these are the ones, right now, that are really under attack.
And this is the Gospel he preached . . .
“By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain” (I Corinthians 15:2).
“. . . unless ye have believed in vain . . .” Now this doesn’t mean that they lost their salvation, that means when they heard Paul preach the Gospel, some didn’t understand it. If they believed what he preached—they got saved! And what he preached was the Gospel! Yet, some of the message fell on rocky ground.
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3-4).
“. . . that which I also received . . .” Right now, you are wondering what people are preaching and teaching—what they actually received—because of the corruption that is on the airwaves and the modern movement. There is so many things going on that it is hard to keep up with it. And always remember that there are different ways that people interpret Scripture. It is either literal—every word—what I believe, or it’s thought. And thought seems to be winning out today, in these large churches.
“What I ‘think’ God is meaning.”
“What I ‘think’ about this.”
People today are using, “I think” to explain the Bible instead of “God says!” A ‘thus saith the Lord’ is world’s apart from ‘I think.’
Sorry ... But the Simplicity of Christs Religion lost out long ago!
Proof? The Nicene/Athanasian/Apostolic Creeds have replaced the Bible for definitions describing the relationship between God/Christ/HG.
Disagree? Try going against Creed Dogma armed with relative teachings from the Bible ....
The fact is, that what was once a heresy has long ago become dogma.
In my opinion, religion is inherently sinful and way too many belie God’s words about the New Covenant He would give us and what the Blood of Christ did for those who accept Him as lord and savior...too many think they can do what many were trying to do when they were chastised, by Paul, for having fallen from Grace....I also believe Paul was given a bigger task than Peter (the rock of the Church) because Peter had tro8ble eschewing his original religion.....he was chastised for “calling unclean what God has declared clean” when told, in his dream, that many food restrictions no longer applied.
THE SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL