Sermon on 2 Corinthians 11:1–12:10: Authentic Christianity, false teachers, and God's power in weakness
A sermon by Tim Capill at Latimer Church on Paul's defence of authentic Christian ministry against false teachers in Corinth.
Summary
Tim Capill, Associate Pastor at Latimer Church, preaches through 2 Corinthians 11:1–12:10, focusing on Paul's defence of his apostolic credentials against false teachers in the Corinthian church. He argues that Satan works through false teachers who masquerade as authentic Christians, just as the serpent deceived Eve in the garden, and that this is as real a danger in New Zealand churches today as it was in first-century Corinth. The sermon traces Paul's threefold "boasting" — in his free ministry, his suffering, and his weakness — as the marks of genuine Christian service, in deliberate contrast to the self-promoting "super-apostles." The central claim is that God's power is made perfect in weakness, not in impressive ministry success, and that suffering functions as God's instrument to keep his servants humble and dependent on grace rather than their own strength.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Introduction: Wolves in sheep's clothing
Tim Capill: Thank you very much, Abby. That's a long reading — well done. Good evening, and it's great to be with you tonight. My name's Tim Capill. It would be helpful if you could keep your Bibles open, or look up the text on your phone if you need to, as we work our way through quite a long section tonight. It would be helpful to have the words in front of you as we look at it together.
One of my favourite fairy tales growing up was the story of Little Red Riding Hood. You know the story? It stands the test of time, a story like that. Little Red Riding Hood goes to visit her grandma, but before she gets there, there's a wicked wolf who eats grandma and then disguises himself as grandma. I think that's quite unbelievable — I've never met Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, but the fact that she might be mistaken for a wolf, I don't know, it's a stretch. But that's what happens. And so as Little Red Riding Hood gets a little bit closer: "Oh my, what big teeth you have." "All the better to eat you with." And then the wolf gobbles her up as well. Although they've now made it a bit more PC and apparently that doesn't happen anymore. But anyway, that's how I knew it.
It's perhaps one of the great stories of a great scam, where the wolf pretends to be grandma. Of course, scams are not just the things of fairy tales. We live in a world where I constantly get emails or text messages from companies telling me to be careful about scam artists, because there are people who genuinely are deceitful — they use trickery to try to take advantage of those who are gullible. And so we do actually need to be on our guard against scams.
False teachers in Corinth
In the church of Corinth in the first century, there were spiritual scammers. There were wicked wolves pretending to be sheep. There were false teachers in this church in Corinth who were deceiving the Corinthians and leading them away from Jesus. And so the Apostle Paul, as he writes this letter, is worried that the church that he loves will be led astray. That's why he writes. He loved this church. We see the way he describes his love in chapter 11, verse 2. If you look down there, he says: I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.
It's a bit like a father with his daughter. A father who loves his daughter longs to present his daughter to her husband as a pure and holy person. And so he does everything he can to fight off all the dodgy guys — the guys that just want to use her but not love her. And then he proudly walks her up the aisle and presents her, whole and perfect, to her husband. That's the picture Paul picks up on here. He says, I love the church like that. The church, you're like the bride, and I want to present you to Jesus the groom — holy, perfect, spotless, not defiled by these false teachers.
This language of bride and groom is well-known language in the Bible used to describe authentic Christianity. Because at the very heart of the true message about Jesus is a great love story. It's the story of how God loves the people that he has made. It's a love story in which Jesus so loves his people, his bride, that he willingly, joyfully lays down his life for them, dies, and takes the penalty for their sins upon himself. And we Christians are, if you like, therefore those who are betrothed. We're awaiting the wedding day — we're engaged — and we're awaiting the day when we're presented to the risen Jesus as his holy and pure people.
But while we wait, there are lots of dodgy guys around — false teachers who are trying to spiritually scam us. They teach a different message about Jesus. They try to deceive us. They try to lead us away from Jesus towards other loves, away from authentic Christianity to a fake Christianity. And these false teachers exist today. They existed in the first century in Corinth. And so Paul is worried for the Corinthians.
He says in verse 3 — if you have a look there — he says: I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
If you know the Bible story, you'll know about Eve at the very beginning of humanity. Eve was led astray by the serpent in the garden. It was the serpent who tricked Eve into doubting God's goodness and doubting God's word. And it was the serpent who first led Eve, and all of humanity with her, away from the love of God and into disobedience. And we're now told that Satan is having another go at deceiving God's people, just like the serpent in the garden. And Satan is using false teachers. They come into the church. They look impressive, but they're deceptive. They preach a different gospel. They speak about a different Jesus. They're wolves in sheep's clothing.
Notice Paul doesn't beat around the bush. He's not trying to be friends with these false teachers, as if they're not that bad and just trying their best. No, he's upfront. He says they're doing Satan's work. He calls them out for the reality of what's happening. Just as the serpent deceived Eve, so these false teachers are trying to deceive the Corinthians.
He says it again in verse 13. Have a look down at chapter 11, verse 13: For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
He's saying Satan is very much at work among God's people today, as he was in the Garden of Eden in Eve's day. He's working through men and women who come into the church and they look the part. They masquerade. They might look a lot like us. They masquerade as righteous people. They talk about Jesus. They carry their Bibles with them. They may even be ordained leaders in God's church. But they teach a false gospel. They teach something different to the message of Jesus, and they lead people away from the bridegroom.
False teaching in New Zealand today
Sadly, I know a number of people who have been deceived — and perhaps you do as well. People who were once in this church but now no longer repent of their sins, because someone told them that their sin wasn't really sin. People who have turned to Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy because someone told them that trusting Jesus' death for their salvation wasn't enough — they also needed to do some good works. People who now treat sin as almost insignificant, as though it doesn't really bother God, because someone told them that God can't really be angry at sin, that God's not like that. People who have been told that the work of the Holy Spirit is not primarily to help us delight in Jesus, but that the primary work of the Spirit is just to give spiritual experiences. Or people who no longer believe that the Bible has any authority because they've been told that it's not really the Word of God — it's just the word of men.
I know people personally who've been led astray in all of those ways by false teaching. You see, it's not just theory — this is reality. This is our reality. Satan is very much at work in the church in New Zealand in our day through false teachers, just as he was at work in Corinth in the first century, and just as he was at work in the garden through the serpent at the beginning of time.
How to identify authentic Christianity
So what we've been doing as we've worked our way through this letter over the last few weeks — if you've been with us — is learning how to distinguish authentic Christianity from fake Christianity. How do you know you've got it right? How do you know you've got the real deal, the real Jesus? Paul wants us to believe and partner with authentic Christian work, and he wants us to have nothing to do with pretend Christianity or pretend Christian workers. He doesn't want us to be gullible. He wants us to think about it so that we know authentic Jesus when we see him.
And what we have here in chapter 11 through to chapter 12, verse 10 — which Abby read for us so well — is Paul boasting about himself as an authentic Christian worker. I don't know if you've written a CV recently. I wrote one recently for my son — I helped him prepare his. And they're not very nice to write because you've got to talk yourself up a bit. That's what you've got to do. You've got to promote yourself. You've got to show that you've got all the right qualifications and that you'll work hard and you've got what it takes to do the job.
Play a silly game with me for a moment and imagine you were writing a spiritual CV — to sell yourself as an authentic follower of Jesus. You've got to write down all the things that make you an authentic follower of Jesus. What would you write? What would you put on the list? Maybe you'd write: I've grown up in church. I've always been in church. I can't think of a time I didn't believe in Jesus. Of course I'm the authentic thing. Maybe you'd write: I never miss church. I'm in a growth group. I read my Bible. I serve at church. I teach the Bible. What would you put on a spiritual CV to show that you're the real deal?
Well, what we have in front of us is, if you like, the Apostle Paul's spiritual CV. He's not applying for a job — he's defending a job. He's defending himself as an authentic Christian worker who preaches an authentic message about Jesus. And in boasting the way that he does in this chapter, he plays the same game as the false teachers. He calls them "super-apostles" in verse 5 — sarcastically — because they talked themselves up. They made themselves sound impressive. And Paul says, OK, if you guys are going to boast like fools, comparing yourselves to others, showing everyone how good you are, then let me play your game. I'll be foolish and I'll do the same. Let me boast.
He knows it's foolish. He calls it foolishness a number of times. For example, verse 1 says it's foolishness. Or again, in chapter 11, verse 16 — if you look there — he says: I repeat, let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. He knows that it's foolish to boast. He doesn't want to do it. But it seems that the only way the Corinthian church will listen to him is if he joins in.
So here are his credentials. And as we see him boast about his credentials as an authentic Christian worker, it'll help us — I hope and pray — to identify authentic Christian workers ourselves.
First boast: A free ministry
First, he boasts in his free ministry. He boasts in the fact that he preaches Jesus free of charge. Have a look at chapter 11, verse 7. Paul preached the message to the Corinthians without charging them a cent. In verse 8, he says that he received help from other churches — the Macedonian churches — to support him so that he could go to the Corinthians and preach without any charge. Other Christians and other churches funded Paul's gospel ministry.
And the false apostles must have used this against Paul. You see, the practice of patronage was deeply embedded in Greco-Roman culture, and so the expectation was that the affluent and wealthy people in the Greco-Roman world would give money to any travelling philosophers or orators that came through the city. And these philosophers and orators would gladly accept the gift without question, and then they would publicly thank and make a big fuss of their patrons who'd given them the money. And so the super-apostles, I assume, must have taken that kind of patronage. And in their eyes, by not taking money from the Corinthians, Paul was showing himself to be a little bit arrogant.
It seems in verse 11 that they started to say that Paul didn't really love the Corinthians. He loved the Macedonians — he's happy to take their money, he's happy to partner with them — but he doesn't really want to do that with you because he doesn't love you. But Paul says in verse 11, God knows I do love you, and that is why I preached Jesus freely. He says he'll continue to do it. He'll continue to preach Jesus freely in verse 10, so that no one can take that boast away from him. He didn't want money to stop the Corinthians hearing the free message of Jesus.
You see, authentic gospel workers are not in it for themselves. They're in it for Jesus. And it is a great tragedy when, in the name of Jesus, money is gathered from the poor in order to line the pockets of rich preachers. Friends, that is a sure sign of inauthentic Christianity. True, authentic Christian work offers the gospel to unbelievers free of charge. And it's why, as believers, we ought to be generous with our money and pay gospel workers who can take the gospel free of charge to unbelievers.
Second boast: A suffering ministry
That's Paul's first boast. Secondly, he boasts about his suffering ministry. He boasts about how much he suffered in service of Jesus. Have a look at chapter 11, verse 23. He says: Are they servants of Christ? I am out of my mind to talk like this. I am more.
I think this is where it gets interesting, because Paul could run circles around these super-apostles if they're boasting about what they've done in the service of Jesus. Presumably the super-apostles are bragging about everything they've done in the name of Jesus. You know, I just finished a big preaching gig at the massive conference down in Jerusalem. Look at me. I planted a church in Troas and it's grown overnight to hundreds of people. Look at everything I've done for Jesus. I'm a sought-after, world-renowned, popular preacher. I presume they were bragging a little bit like that.
Paul could just run circles around them. Like, you want to talk about what I've done for Christ? You want a competition about who's done the most? Paul's got this. He could have said, I've planted over thirty churches — because he did. He could have said, I've travelled around the world preaching Jesus. Everywhere I go there are conversions. Everywhere I go the church of God grows. My ministry speaks for itself. Even the apostles in Jerusalem have noticed that I'm an apostle as well. You guys teach the Bible? I write the Bible. He could have just done them up one — they don't stand a chance. If all he's going to do is show that he's done more for Jesus, he could have said all of those things, and they would have been true.
But he doesn't do that. No, he proves his service of Jesus not by his ministry success, but by his ministry suffering. He says, I'm more of a servant of Jesus than you because look at the way I've suffered. And then he lists his suffering from verse 23. You only need to read through the second half of the book of Acts, where we read about Paul's ministry, to see that everything he writes here is true. He suffered terribly for preaching Jesus.
Yes, there were churches planted and people were converted, but at the same time there were people who hated Paul and his message about Jesus. I don't know — you might have some good work stories, but I reckon you've got nothing compared to Paul. He says he received thirty-nine lashes. Forty lashes was the legal maximum that Jewish synagogue rulers were allowed to dish out. So what they'd do is forty minus one, just to make sure they didn't break the legal requirements. And the victim would be stripped of his clothes and then receive a third of the lashes on his chest and two-thirds on his back. The whips were made out of three long pieces of leather. So bare-chested, thirteen blows across the chest, and then twenty-six across the back. The Jewish historian Josephus described this punishment as a most disgraceful penalty.
You might think that just one of those beatings would be enough to stop Paul preaching. You know, I'm done. If that's what I get for telling people freely that they can be forgiven for their sins and that Jesus loves them, and they don't want to hear it — I'm out. But not Paul. He says he received this beating five times. He went back for more. That's 195 blows with a leather whip. Paul's body must have been covered in scars.
That's not all. He says three times he was beaten with the rod. This was the Roman punishment for troublemakers — a rod made of birch wood. The criminals, again, would be stripped naked in public and then beaten, left bleeding and humiliated. Paul was unrelenting in preaching Jesus despite this. He says he was stoned — not our kind of modern-day stoned, but old-school stoned, where they literally picked up rocks and threw them at Paul. He was shipwrecked. Travelling by sea was dangerous at the best of times in the first century. Paul was shipwrecked at least three times. You imagine this great apostle just clinging to a bit of driftwood in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea — cold, hungry, stuck out there in the stormy, rainy dark. Surely the temptation in those kinds of moments must have come to him: surely I've done enough now, Jesus. Maybe I can just retire to a nice little island in Crete and write books. But not Paul — he keeps going.
And so he lists more and more suffering. In verse 26, everywhere I go I'm in danger. Everyone's against me. I've worked day and night. I've gone without food and without sleep. I've given myself literally to proclaiming Jesus as king. And on top of all of these external pressures, he says in verse 28, I've carried with me concern for all the churches. Any pastor knows what Paul is speaking about here — the concern a pastor carries for his people. I wonder if John is still following Jesus. I wonder if Sophie is still resisting sin. I wonder if the church in Philippi have managed to sort out their disputes or whether they're splitting up. I hope the church in Colossae aren't being led astray by those false teachers. I hope Timothy is still working really hard at his preaching. I hope people are still standing firm in Jesus. I've given my life to help them.
Paul carried with him this kind of godly anxiety for the people he loved. And then all through it — on top of the physical pain, on top of his inner burden — he also wrestled with his own sin in verse 29. I don't know particularly what sin Paul faced, what temptations came his way. Maybe it was the temptation to give up. Maybe it was the temptation to be proud. Maybe it was the temptation to be self-seeking. Maybe it was the temptation just to settle down and live a comfortable life. But Paul resisted all of that.
And then he finishes with a very specific example of his suffering in verse 32 — this one occasion when he escaped from the city of Damascus. You read about it in Acts chapter 9. It happened just after Paul was converted, when he first became a Christian. And the very first time Paul told other people that Jesus died for their sins and rose from the dead, immediately he was hated. And so he had to hide from the crowds until it was dark. And then his friends helped him escape as they lowered him down over the city wall in a basket, and then he ran for his life.
It's kind of laughable, isn't it? This isn't a strong, successful, impressive ministry. It's weak, it's pathetic, it's suffering. It's decidedly unimpressive. Why would you want to listen to someone like that? But Paul says, it proves that I am a servant of Jesus because I suffer like Jesus suffered. Authentic Christianity is not glamorous, but it is gutsy. It involves hardship, suffering, and hard work.
Third boast: A weak ministry
So he boasts about his free ministry, he boasts about his suffering in ministry, and then thirdly, he boasts about his weak ministry. It seems that the super-apostles boasted about their spiritual experiences. They bragged about the visions that they'd had from the Lord, or they claimed some special revelation from God, and they boasted about these spiritual moments. And so Paul competes. He joins their foolish boasting. But he does it very differently to them.
You see, where the super-apostles brag about their experiences, Paul doesn't really like talking about his. His visions and revelations are between him and God. There's no need to boast about them. But they've forced him into it. And so he speaks about his spiritual experiences and his revelations in the third person in chapter 12, verses 1 to 6. Have a look — chapter 12, verse 1. Paul says: I must go on boasting, although there is nothing to be gained. I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. And then he goes on to obviously speak about himself. He doesn't want people to think more of him than they should, so he refuses to boast about it, and he speaks about himself in the third person.
Now, I reckon this flies in the face of the kind of boasting that so often happens among Christians and in churches today, where people are so quick to boast about their visions or their incredible times with Jesus. We have photos of their coffee and their Bible going up on Instagram every moment. People boast about how God's been speaking to them. People brag about their awesome worship services or their deep times of prayer, and they're kind of boasting about all these supernatural experiences they've had. Well, Paul would say, who cares? Bully for you — you had a great experience. That's good for you. It's good that God has given you these experiences of himself, but they are for you. Don't boast about them. Don't use God's grace to you to make people think that you're awesome. What an ugly thing that is to do. If God has been kind enough to give you some unique experience, where he's made himself known to you in some particular way, given you some vision or something like that — don't boast about it. Don't turn God's grace into an opportunity for pride.
And so Paul has had this extraordinary vision. Fourteen years ago, he says, he was caught up. He's seen things that no man should speak of, but he refuses to boast. Instead, he says in verse 5: I will boast about my weaknesses, not my experiences. Yes, I've got spiritual experiences, like these super-apostles claim to have had, but I won't boast about them. I'll boast about my weakness.
Three times in these verses that we're looking at tonight, Paul says, if I have to boast, I'll boast in weakness. He doesn't like talking about himself. His boasting is foolish and worldly. He's very reluctant to show his credentials. I preach free of charge. I suffer for preaching. And yes, I have spiritual experiences — but I'd rather boast about my weakness.
God's power made perfect in weakness
Why? Well, the answer comes in these last few verses, and I want us to land here. Paul says in chapter 12, verse 7, that to keep him from becoming conceited, God gave him a thorn in the flesh. Paul had had these great visions and spiritual experiences, but to keep Paul humble and to stop him becoming proud, God gave him suffering — a thorn in the flesh — something that caused Paul constant pain. We're not told what the thorn was. We've got no idea. People have speculated: perhaps it was depression or some other mental illness. Perhaps it was physical illness or a disability. Perhaps Paul was going blind or had chronic pain. Others suggest that perhaps it was a particular temptation that Paul just wrestled with his whole life, a temptation that never left him. We're not told. But whatever it was, it wasn't nice, and Paul suffered.
And he pleads with God to take this suffering, this thorn, away in verse 8: Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. Have you had something like that in your life? Something you just wish God would take away from you? Pain, sickness, maybe a difficult relationship, maybe a feeling of loneliness, maybe a temptation, a struggle with sin — a thorn in your flesh. Paul pleads with God: take it away. Why are you allowing me to go through this? God, remove this pain.
And then God answers him in verse 9: But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
You see, why does Paul hate boasting in anything other than his weakness and suffering? Why does he hate boasting in power and success? Two reasons. Because God's grace is sufficient for him, and because God's power is made perfect in weakness.
God's grace is sufficient. Paul doesn't need any ministry success. He doesn't need any extraordinary gifts. He doesn't need any extraordinary ministry or any extraordinary experiences. And neither do the Corinthians. And neither do we. God's grace is sufficient. That's all we need. God's undeserved love, seen in Jesus who died for us. Friends, if you know and believe the grace of God, then that is all you need to be used by God to show his power. God's grace is enough. It's enough to carry you through the hardest and darkest times. Boast about that. Boast about God's undeserved love.
And secondly, because God's power is made perfect in weakness. When Paul has no strength, no energy, no wisdom, no desire, no power in himself, but instead casts himself upon God — that is when God works powerfully in and through Paul. When Paul is weak and dependent, that is when he is strong, because that is when God works.
And more than that, these verses are also teaching us that when God does work all of his divine power through someone, he often deliberately acts in order to keep those through whom he works conscious of their weakness. God works to keep those through whom he works conscious of their weakness. He works deliberately to keep his servants humble, and he often does it through suffering. That's what he does for the Apostle Paul.
The two messages in suffering
Notice that this thorn in the flesh has two potential purposes. It's like an email with two attachments. There's a message from Satan and there's a message from God. Paul describes his thorn in the flesh first as a messenger of Satan — sent, we're told, to torment him in verse 7, to harass him. Literally, it's to buffet him, to knock him about. Satan will use suffering to try and knock you around spiritually.
Friends, in your suffering, Satan will try to tell you things like: you are useless. You're no good to anyone. You're just a burden on people. You're not good enough. God can't use you. God doesn't love you. You're hopeless. That's the lies of Satan's email attachment on your suffering.
But what Satan intends for harm — to buffet you around — God uses for good. The other email attachment to this email of suffering is one from the living God. What Satan intended for harassment, God uses to teach humility. God doesn't take Paul's suffering away, although he could have. To God, Paul's humility is actually more important than his comfort. And so God allows Paul to suffer, to live with this thorn, so that he would not become proud, so that he would not start boasting in himself, but would only boast in Jesus.
Satan says, you're not good enough. God says — no, he doesn't say, yes you are. He says, no, but I am. And my power will be made perfect in your weakness.
Friends, if you're a Christian here tonight and you're suffering — if you've got some thorn in your flesh, something you wish God would take away, and you don't know why he won't — could this be the answer? That it is actually God's hand at work, and he is teaching you to trust his power, not your own strength. He's teaching you to boast in Jesus and in God's grace, not in your health or your life being all together. And is it possible that through your suffering, God might display his power as you keep clinging to Jesus and other people see it? People will look at you going through difficulty and they'll see the power of God as you keep trusting Jesus, just like Paul did.
We must choose very carefully what message we listen to in our suffering. Which email attachment will you open? Satan's — he wants to knock your faith about and destroy it. Or God's — he wants to show his power made perfect in your weakness.
An encouragement to the weak
I imagine there are some people tonight who feel pretty weak as Christians. Is that you? You feel inadequate? Perhaps you feel you don't have any real gifts to contribute to the kingdom. Perhaps you feel like God can't really use you. Perhaps you feel like every time you try to say something about Jesus to an unbeliever, you just kind of stuff it up. Perhaps you feel that your own hardship in life is just so great that you can't possibly see how God could use you for anything good. And then when you see the need — the need for people to come to know Jesus, the need for people to be built up in their faith in this church, the need for Jesus to be proclaimed around the world — you think, what on earth can I do?
Friends, if you feel weak and inadequate, can I just say that's a really good thing. Because when you are weak and dependent upon God, that is when you are strong. When you can rely on nothing else except the grace of God, that is when God's power will be seen. So if you feel weak and inadequate, you are just the kind of person that God will use to display his power and do his work, so that he gets the glory and not you.
The kind of person who should be giving their life to proclaiming Jesus is not the person who thinks that they're gifted or clever, as though God should be thankful to have them on his team. The person who should give themselves to the work of the gospel is the person who feels weak and inadequate, the person who is aware of their sin, and the person who is dependent upon God's grace. That is the person God will use to work his power in and through.
The cross: God's power seen in weakness
And if you're in any doubt that God's power is really seen in weakness, then look to the cross of Jesus. Because Jesus himself became weak. He was discouraged, looking for a way out. He lost everything and he was all alone. He died on a cross like a criminal. He was stripped naked and beaten, left for dead. Weak, pathetic, unimpressive. But in the weakness of Jesus, God's power is seen. God's power to defeat sin. God's power to forgive sinners. God's power to raise the dead. God's power to conquer the grave. God's power to defeat Satan.
God's power is seen in weakness. And so, friends, do not be spiritually scammed by strength or power or impressive ministry. Authentic Christian ministry is marked by weakness and suffering like Jesus. So stick with him.
Prayer
Let me pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for these verses, because we do so often feel weak and inadequate, or we are filled with pride. And so we pray that you would help us to imitate Paul's example in Jesus — to boast in weakness, to boast in your power. Teach us, Lord, to be like that. Guard us, Lord, from things that might look impressive to us. Guard us from people who may impress us but who teach what is untrue. Help us, Lord, to stick with Jesus. We thank you for Paul's example, but we thank you for Jesus's. And we thank you that he suffered, and that through his suffering we might know your amazing grace, your amazing power. And so please would you guard us, and please would you use us, despite our weakness, to display your power. We ask it in Jesus' name and for his glory. Amen.