If one comes and preaches another Jesus...

2 Corinthians 11:1-15 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. ² For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. ³ But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. ⁴ For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. ⁵ For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. ⁶ But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things…

¹² But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. ¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

In today’s text Paul says:   But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.  For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.      There are those today who deny God entirely. There are those who follow and worship other gods. Perhaps though the greatest deception is those who claim to preach Christ and the gospel, but as Paul says, “they preach another Jesus, a different gospel, a different spirit”.     Jesus Himself warned of this happening. In Matthew 24 the disciples ask Jesus about the sign of His return. Matthew 24:3-8 says:   “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”  And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.  For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.  You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.  But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”

Throughout history people have looked at natural disasters as indicators of the Biblical times we are in. They have viewed some of the great wars in history as indicators that the return of Christ might be near. Jesus says, nation will rise against nation. The Greek word which is translated as nation is the word ethnos, from which we get the English word ethnic. So Jesus says that heightened ethnic conflict will be an indicator of His return. Surely throughout the world today ethnic, tribal and racial conflict is prevalent everywhere and has become one of the driving forces behind wars and rumors of wars. Look though at what Jesus warns against, what the true peril of the last days will be:   “See to it that no one misleads you.  For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.”  The real peril is not the natural disasters. It is not the ethnic conflicts or the wars. The real peril, what Jesus warns the disciples to guard against is being mislead. See what Jesus says the deception will be. It’s not the devil, it’s not other gods, but rather Jesus says that many will come in His name, saying that He, Jesus is the Christ, yet they will deceive many. These are not false Christs, who claim that they themselves are the Christ. Rather they deceive many by, as Paul says, preaching another Christ.

Even today this deception is very prevalent in the world and in particular here in the U.S. and in western culture. The greatest deception is not that they preach another god, it is that they distort who Jesus really is. There are a variety of ways that these false versions of Jesus are preached and portrayed. They include those who would acknowledge Jesus as a prophet, a good teacher, a great example of love, kindness and grace, but stop short of acknowledging that He is God’s Son, that He is God.  Muslims, humanists, new agers; even many agnostics and atheists will acknowledge the person of Jesus. They will embrace some of His teachings and some of His words. The greater deception though, surly comes from those who claim to be Christ’s followers. The deception is difficult to sort out and uproot because it is a deception which is rooted in people focusing on only a part of who Christ is. Those who preach these false versions of Christ are not motivated to lead others to deception, they are themselves deceived. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 Paul says of the gospel he preached:    when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.   

There are those today who preach and present a Christ that is returning to judge sin and sinners. They call for repentance, turning from sin. They present a Jesus who is a harsh judge, condemning sinners to hell. There are others who focus on the way Jesus, the man, lived. They present a Christ who was the friend of sinners, who mingled with and fellowshipped with outcasts. They present a Christ who is loving and merciful, who is gracious and kind. They present and preach a Christ who did not judge. There are those who preach a Christ and a gospel of abundance, that Jesus came so we could have life abundantly, with all the pleasures and provision our hearts desire. There are those who preach a Christ who calls us to suffer like Him, to daily deny ourselves, bearing our cross in this life and looking toward our eternal reward in heaven. The truth is none of these are wrong. Yet none of them are right.

To those who preach a gospel of judgment and condemnation, Jesus says: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31) Love is foundational to all we do and say.  Romans 8:1-2 says:   There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.       If there is no condemnation for us, there should be no condemnation in or from us. Jesus says:   “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)   

For those who focus only on the way Jesus lived, that He was a friend of sinners and outcasts, that He loved and mingled with the unlovely. Jesus says: “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) It is easy to seek and to find outcasts and sinners. Jesus Himself didn’t come simply to be their friend. He came to save them. Our love, our friendship, our acceptance cannot save them. Only Jesus and the cross can save them. We need to remember and focus not only on how Jesus lived, but also on how and why He died. In pain and anguish Jesus bore the sins of all on the cross. He is no friend of sin. He calls to the sinners and outcasts, not in judgment or condemnation, but in love, saying repent, go and sin no more. Of those who present Jesus to the world, He says:   “whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19)  

To those who preach a gospel of prosperity, a Jesus that will give us whatever we want and ask, Jesus says:  ^“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30)     There are both blessings and persecutions that will come in this life to those who follow Christ.

Finally to those who believe and preach that Jesus calls us to a life of suffering and denial, Jesus says: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus taught us to pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven…(Matthew 6:9-10)   We are to pray and believe that the realities of heaven should impact the earth. That life here should be at least a reflection or an image of what life in heaven will be.

For those who believe in only a part of who Jesus is, He says: “See to it that no one misleads you.”     For those who lead others in deception, Jesus says: “they will be least in the kingdom.” Paul in today’s text says:   For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.  No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.  Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for all that You are, that You are I Am. May I walk in the fullness of the understanding of all that You are and may my life and words call others also to know Jesus Christ, I Am.    Amen