2 Corinthians 11

http://www.esvbible.org/2+Corinthians+11/

Paul tells the Corinthians that he is a little annoyed with them. Fake apostles come to them and talk to them about false gods and try to fill them with other spirits by telling them about another good news. Paul says he fears for their souls. Paul says that he has already told them about the true Jesus and filled them with the Spirit and told them the Good News, yet they put up with falsehoods. Once we come to accept what we now know to be true, we should not accept false words that sound convincing. Paul says he is not inferior to these false apostles even though they may speak better than he can because he speaks the truth from God. Furthermore, Paul says he tried not to burden the Corinthians in any way but received his money and comfort from Macedonia so that he could focus on saving the Corinthians instead of burdening them. This is another example of why we all need Christian friends. We must have people to turn to for our spiritual needs or our physical needs to fulfill what God has called us to do. We cant ask the people on our mission because that sends a mixed message about God's power. Paul says that he can't stop doing what God has called him to do in order to spend all of his time with the Corinthians like the false apostles do. Knowing this, the Corinthians have the insight to stop false apostles. He says that they disguise themselves by calling themselves God's apostles. This isn't surprising since even Satan disguises himself as an angel of the light for God.

Paul decides that he will brag about himself in order to further show how false these false apostles are. He starts by saying he will brag speaking for himself more than he would if he was speaking of the Lord. He also says that they have put up with bragging before, but since it came from false apostles, it was more harmful. Paul goes on at length describing the ways, first, in which he matches the built up qualifications of the false apostles. Then, he goes deeper into talking about his journeys for God. When he wraps up, he says that he brags about what has made him weak, but he continues to go on because the Lord is fueling him while the false apostles only talk about how strong they are because they do not have strength behind them for when they are weak.