Paul's Personal Limitations

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Unskilled at Speaking

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"Do bare with me a little foolishness." What was this "little foolishness" that Paul was talking about? It was commending himself. Did it go against Paul's grain to do this? Yes, Matthew Henry says, "It is as much against the grain of a humble man to speak of his own abilities as it is for a proud man to admit to his weaknesses."

Paul had a reason for commending himself and it wasn't a personal reason. He was concerned for their spiritual well being. Paul says, "I feel a divine jealousy for you." He had started the church at Corinth, "He betrothed them in Christ." They were like a bride betrothed to a husband. Paul wanted to present them to the Lord, pure, spotless and faithful.

What was he afraid would interfere with this? Satan, "I am afraid that the Serpent will deceive you as he did Eve." What areas in particular was Paul concerned about? He was concerned about them being led astray in their devotion to Christ. There were false teachers preaching a different Christ, a different Spirit and a different Gospel. These false teachers were those spoken of earlier who would add to that which was necessary for eternal life, the Judaizers, and those who would take away their freedoms and assurances that they have in Christ.

Were these Corinthians actually falling for this false doctrine? Yes, Paul says in verse 4, "You submit to these false doctrines readily enough." Why do people fall for false doctrines? They lack knowledge of the truth. Now these people did not have the Bible but they had the teachings of Paul. Paul had taught them the truth, notice verse 6, "Even if I am an unskilled speaker, I am not (unskilled) in knowledge, in every way I have made this plain to you in all things." SECOND CORINTHIANS Page 18

How was Paul different from the false teachers? They were "superlative" glib speakers, entertaining but not knowledgeable. Paul was unskilled at speech, sometimes even rude, but was knowledgeable of the truths of the Gospel. The "gift of gab" is still the tool of the false teachers and lack of knowledge is still their trade mark.

Paul's Independence

Here Paul begins to wonder if he did the right thing those three years that he labored there at Corinth. The question that Paul asks is, "Did I sin in denying myself so that you might know of Christ?" During those three years, Paul preached without pay. He was supported, in part, by people from Macedonia. Was Paul wrong in serving without pay? Well it depends why he did it. If he did it so that he could boast about it, it was wrong. If he did it so he would be free to preach and condemn as he was led of the Spirit, then he was right.

Paul wanted his freedom to preach. He was proud of this and made it known over the whole Providence of Achaia. His boasting was neither in himself nor in his charity, but in his love for these people and the desire to be free to speak as he was led by the Spirit. Others had come to Corinth claiming to be Apostles of Jesus Christ but Paul says that they were false prophets and were extremely hard to recognize for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants as servants of righteousness.

How can we know the difference? Bible study, knowing the truth. Faithfully studying and applying the Word, testing all who preach or teach to see if it is of God. Two things we need to remember about these false teachers. One, God will and has used them to win souls for Christ and secondly, their end will be like their teaching, in the hands of God.

A Fool for Christ's Sake

Could we possibly say that we have found a second place where Paul admits to saying something the he does not have divine inspiration for. (Ist. Cor. 7:25) Notice what he says. "What I am saying, I say not with the Lord's authority." I believe Paul is saying that boasting of yourself is not commanded by the Lord, because it is the duty of Christians to be humble and to abase themselves. However, God would have us to speak of what He has wrought in us, by us, and for us, giving Him the phrase for this is not boasting.

Matthew Henry says, "Boasting in yourself is not only the sign of a proud mind but also a foolish one." Paul knew this, that's why he asked them not to think of him as foolish but if they did, at least accept him, even as a fool. They had accepted other people, people who had made them slaves, people who had taken advantage of them, people who thought they were better than they were, people who had struck them in the face, you have accepted these people, why can't you accept, a fool, boasting of what Christ has done in my life. "You gladly bear with fools but to my shame, I am to weak for that." Here Paul was speaking of his bodily statue. He was small in statue, it made people think that they could take advantage of him. In Ist. Cor. 10:10, "His bodily presence is weak." In Gal 4:13, "You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the Gospel to you at first and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an Angel of God."

So the weakness of Paul was not spiritual but was physical and despite this handicap, most accepted him as a minister of God. Obviously Paul had his problems to deal with, limitations like most of us yet greatly used by the Lord.

Paul's Advantages

While Paul certainly had some disadvantages, he also had many advantages. As a "fool", Paul could boast of his "heritage" as an advantage.

1. He was a Hebrew. He was a member of a family was still racially pure as they had never intermarried. Only the "Hebrews" could boast of this.
2. He was an Israelite of the "seed". He was a descendant of Abraham.
3. He was servant of Christ. He had given them full proof of his Apostleship. His life bore witness to this. His labors, his imprisonment, his beatings, his stonings, three times ship wrecked, a day and a night adrift at sea, suffered because of rivers, robbers, his own people, Gentiles, city dangers, wilderness, sea, false brethren, sleepless nights, hunger, thrust, cold and exposure and last but certainly not least, daily anxiety for all the churches. Do you still think Paul was weak?

Paul even thought his weakness was an advantage. It was something that he could boast in, having accomplished all that he did in spite of his weakness. Another advantage that Paul had was truthfulness. "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ knows that I do not lie."

Then as though he had forgotten, he speaks of the first time he escaped from death for Christ's sake. After his conversion on the road to Damascus, he became a hunted man. The Governor of Damascus had orders to seize Paul and return him to Jerusalem where he would surly have been put to death. Christians in Damascus, even though they still did not trust him, helped him escape by letting him down in a basket to the outside, through a hole in the wall. This was the first of many escapes from death that Paul would experience.

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