2 Corinthians Review continued

In 2 Corinthians Paul spent some time defending his apostleship.  He did not do this to bring honor or glory to himself, but to prove that what he was saying and doing was under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Paul did not do this to bring honor to himself, and in fact even apologized for having to do so.  If we find it necessary to defend our relationship to God, it should be done so that God will be glorified.  Paul said that he should not have had to defend himself, because his work for the gospel was itself a witness to his calling.  As stated earlier, Satan is at work to stop the spread of the gospel, and if he can discredit those who are being most effective in spreading the gospel then he is being successful.  What we as followers of Christ need to be careful of is that he is not doing it through us.  When some of those in the church at Corinth began to question Paul's calling, they were helping Satan in his work.  When we begin to put down the work of those who are spreading the gospel today, for whatever reason, then we are doing the same thing.  We are not called to support only those preachers who are most liked, but to support all preachers, or even fellow believers, who present the truth of the gospel.  Paul said that even though they might not have liked the way that he looked or sounded, that he was not what was important, but that the message was all that mattered.  Paul also said that he supported himself in his ministry so that people could not claim that he was just in the ministry for the money.  This was not to teach that no one in the ministry should be paid.  It was Paul's choice.  He also said that he hoped that he wasn't looked down on because he did not accept support.  We today should not look down on those ministers who work to support, or help support, themselves.  If someone serves in a church that cannot fully support them, then if anything they should be held in higher esteem.  Yet, we often look at those ministers who are at larger churches as somehow being more worthy of being heard.