Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing
2 Corinthians 11:1-15
July 13, 2025

As we continue in this section of 2 Corinthians, Paul is having to defend his apostleship. You’ll remember from the previous sections that there were those visiting the churches Paul planted after he left who would bring a different gospel than the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Not only this, but they would try to break Paul down and humiliate him in his absence, and elevate themselves as true apostles and spiritual leaders.

Paul, with great wisdom, navigates this problem by showing then his heart for them, taking the posture of a father who is jealously watching over his daughter, warning them about the false teachers.

This is a very important study and warning to the church, because there are those even today who are wolves in sheep’s clothing, wanting to abuse the church and lead them away from the pure gospel and good news of Jesus Christ, and if, possible, even to eternal death.

Nowadays the church doesn’t only have to be vigilant against the lies of the enemy in the world and the worldly system that opposes the gospel of Christ, but there are also many other much  more subtle battles being fought that has the potential to lure even the hearts of the devoted and those who are trying to be sincere away into bondage and lies.

Matthew 24:24-26, For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 

There are multiple cults in our world today, some glaringly obvious if you just know the word even a little, but others are much more subtle and even use the same vernacular and Christian phrases that we use, yet their definition of it is totally different.

Then we also have organizations and causes that seem innocent and virtuous which well-meaning people align themselves with, but upon closer inspection their roots are grounded in the occult or idol worship. Paul is warning us to beware, be awake as he reveals some of the characteristics of the wolves in sheep clothing.

There are too many cults to all address in this study, but we will see that Paul gives us a few signs to look out for, and we will look at some examples of this.

The church should be vigilant, praying, asking for the gift of being able to discern the spirits at work, trying to deceive.

I. Beware false Prophets

• It seems like an ancient phrase, bringing to mind the picture of a person walking around in the desert with a staff, long beard and a man-dress.
• Yet false prophets are among us today, as individuals, but also as organizations.
• The enemy wants to confuse by giving many other options that look like the real thing, like fake glass “diamonds” hiding a real diamond.
• He can even use noble causes to try and divert your attention away from Christ. If he can get you to focus your whole life on it, it can become your reason for living, or your ‘god’.

Illus – For example, even the God given responsibility of stewarding nature, has become such a big thing that it has become some people’s religion. When the created thing is elevated to God-status, it horrifically distorts God’s initial plan.

          Then we also have many societies that do many good works, but their roots are firmly grounded in the occult and Satanic worship. Many people, even Christians, innocently become part of these organizations and are oblivious to the dangers, because they masquerade behind the façade of being a Christian organization. As people progress to higher levels, they start to realize that they are caught up in a web of the occult, but too entangled to escape. Some do escape but at a great cost.

• But then there are others who come like a prophet masquerading as true religion, looking to blur the lines of truth.

A. They come like angels of light

• It is important to recognize that the enemy wants to lead astray by keeping the lie very close to the truth.
• Paul says that Satan comes like an angel of light. For a person with a heart longing to honor God, it would be pointless for Satan to reveal his true colors. He would be easily rejected.
• Therefore, he comes with subtle additions and distortions of the truth, thereby luring and keeping in bondage many who are even innocently trying to follow God and do the right thing.
• Paul gives a few ways to spot false prophets.

Verse 13 – These men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ…

• True apostles would be presenting the truth of the gospel of Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

• Verse 18 – They boast according to the flesh. False religions always add human works to Christ for salvation. Christ plus baptism, or, works, giving money, or giving money to help the deceased, or the Bible plus some other manuscript or handbook that has to be elevated to equality with the word.

B. They rob financially and spiritually

Verse 20 – You tolerate it if anyone  enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face,…

• These religions have the undercurrent of people being enslaved through fear, having to declare allegiance and devotion to the prophet or the writings of the prophet.
• It sometimes ‘devours’ by taking over their whole lives, sometimes even surrendering their own authority and letting the prophets have final say over all their decisions, from their budget, to whom they are allowed to marry.
• They are taken advantage of. Mostly it would be financially as the prophets will have revelations of what God says their subjects should give to them or the organization, and the followers gladly obey.

Illus – In the Christian Science cult, for example, their founder, Mary Baker Eddy, told all her followers it was their duty to circulate and sell her published works that would “explain” the Bible. If they did not sell it, they would lose their membership to the “church”. She would regularly update her book with a new ‘revelation’, which was  just a few sentences, and they would then have to buy the whole book again and resell to others. She amassed a massive fortune, while telling her followers that there is no literal, physical existence of the material universe. It is all in their minds, and as such they should not focus on material things.

• …anyone hits you in the face. This speaks of being degraded. Many who oppose the leader would suffer his/her wrath, and many who have tried to break from a cult faces to be ostracized, cut off from all family and friends, and even their livelihood.
• In the end and worst of all, they rob their followers spiritually because they always feel spiritually bankrupt, never able to achieve what they are supposed to.
• God does declare a judgement on the false apostles and prophets.
• Verse 14 – Their end will be according to their deeds.

Galatians 1:8-9, But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

Illus – An example of this, is the Mormon founder, Joseph Smith, who allegedly received revelations from an “angel.  He was translating ‘golden  plates’ which he said were found after the angel told him where it was to be found. It was written in an unknown ancient language, but he was able to translate it by reading it and then gazing into a peep stone, which was used by occultists and mediums, to understand the writings.  He also received special “spectacles’ from the angel to be able to decipher the tablets.  This translation became the Book of Mormon. They also published their own Bible where the text was changed to align with Joseph Smith’s revelations. Yet, they call themselves true Christians. Anyone who does not believe their doctrine are not recognized as Christians.

• God is very serious about this matter. Anyone who wants to hurt those whom Jesus came to pay the price for their sins for to redeem them back to Him, will have to answer to God.

II. You Have one Husband

Paul then gives the reason why he is so serious in fighting for them and the truth.

Verse 1 – 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.

• He uses the image of a Jewish wedding. The word ‘betrothed’ would be similar to our time of engagement, which meant that the bride and groom were setting themselves apart for one another until the wedding day. The father would watch jealously over his daughter to make sure that he presents to the bridegroom a beautiful virgin bride.

A. Do not be deceived

• There is a deep dangerous deception, which we see the Corinthian church being attacked with. The enemy has honed his craft and has brought this same deception in many different guises in our day and age. He uses the same old modus operandi.

Verse 2 – 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.

• How did the enemy deceive Eve? There were three parts to it.
• First, he questioned God’s word. ‘Did God say’. He wants to sow doubt.
• Those who are not grounded in the word and know the truth, are much more susceptible to subtle twisting of the truth resulting in lies.
• The primary truth that is always attacked is the atonement and finished work of Christ on the cross, because if the enemy can get you to believe that it was not enough, he can get you to focus less on Christ and more on you, which leads to anger or despair.

Illus – There are many sects that uses this as the underlying foundation of their doctrine. They happily confess that Jesus paid the price for your sins on calvary, but then add that, after your sins have been forgive, it is your responsibility to keep you wedding dress clean. They usually have some religious prescriptions that you need to follow to clean your dress if you sinned, like an evangelization quota, or reading certain materials, or taking part in some religious ritual. Some take even biblical principles, and make your salvation dependent on fulfilling those sacraments, like baptism, communion, financial contributions.

• It leads to religion without relationship.
• Secondly, He outright denies God’s Word. ‘You shall not die’.
• Many cults, when confronted with a passage the offends their religion, will twits it out of context, or their prophet will have had another “revelation’ that trumps and replaces what the word of God says.
• In fact, almost all cults have their own writings or books written by their own apostle or prophet which is given equal or higher authority that the word of God.
• In these they usually give their commentary on the word which replaces the original meaning with their words of authority.
• Third, he substitutes God’s word for a lie. ‘You will become like God’
• There are two primary lies. Firstly, to deny the deity of Christ. If he succeeds in this, then there is no atonement for sin.

Illus- The Mormons believe that Jesus was the brother of Lucifer, not the God, but a god, just like we will be gods on our planet. They believe that he was actually celebrating his own wedding to Mary, and Martha, and the other Mary whereby he could see his seed before he was crucified. (Journal of Discourses 13;282 – Brigham Young).

          The Jehovah’s witnesses believe that Jesus was only raised in a spiritual body, He was not raised in the flesh. So Jesus wasn’t really raised from the dead to atone for all our sin. They also believe He came back in 1914, but He is not visible. He is directing His activities through His theocratic organization in New York, the organization being the leadership of the Jehovah’s witnesses. One only has a change to maybe be saved if you obey Christ’s directives (which is the church’s directives and works, NOT what the word prescribes) and obey him for a thousand years in His reign.

Matthew 24:26, So if they say to you, …‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 

• Secondly, If Christ is not really God, I t minimizes the effectiveness of forgiveness, which means that it is all up to you. And you can actually become a god yourself.

Illus – One of the beliefs of the Mormon faith is that, when you have met very stringent requirements, and with a very slow progressions, you can become a god who will, with your family, rule and populate a separate planet of your own. But this is only for a very select few. They believe that God himself, is an exalted man from another planet who became the God of this planet, populating it through Adam and Eve. Adam, by the way, came in his celestial body. He is also Michael, the Archangel, and the Father God. The sad thing is, that many Mormons do not even know that this is the history, stance and belief system of their founders. This is all found in the ‘Journal of discourses’ written by Joseph Smith and there are many quotations in their Mormons writings declaring this.

B. Be presented as pure

• Paul encourages them that their minds should not be led astray, but they must hold on to the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
• The Gospel is a simple gospel. Religion and other cults try to make it complex, even using ‘wordsallads’ to sound very impressive, but it is void of truth and saving power.
• The beauty of the gospel is in its simplicity.

Matthew 11:25, At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 

Illus – Jesus loves me this I know…

• This is the gospel and scriptures that has been at the core of evangelism.

Romans 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

1 John 1:8, If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

John 3:16,  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Romans 10:9-10, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

John 1:12, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 

• Jesus declares us righteous apart from our works if we put our trust and our faith in Him, Because Jesus came to pay for our redemption with His own precious blood. He comes to live in us through His Spirit, and changes us from the inside out.
• All we can do is thank Him for His undeserved grace, unmerited favor, as He sanctifies us and leads us by His indwelling Holy Spirit.
• Devotion comes through a love relationship.
• He is now our Father, Jesus is our Savior and oldest brother. We are called sons and daughters of God, and brothers and sisters in the church. But also, as the church, the bride of Christ.
• Be awake. Do not be led astray by wolves in sheep’s clothing. Stay in the simplicity of the gospel, devoted to Christ.