Waging War

Good Morning

My name is Shawn, if you will turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 10.

Before we do anything else, lets pray for our community:

Our Father, may we bring honor and glory to your holy name. Fill our mouths with praise for the good things you have done and given us. Shape us and equip us with the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace. Pour your grace out upon Sheffield, and bring many sons and daughters to glory. Put the gospel before them and lead them before you in faith. You, are the Lord of the harvest, send workers into your harvest. Father, I specifically want to pray for:

Amber Brown

Eric Burt

Jessica Dodge

Abbie Emhoff

Jason Grunklee

Be with these teachers at West Fork. Humble them, bless them, and teach them. Bring someone into their path who can teach the gospel to them, and if they have needs we can meet, please make those known to us. We pray all of this in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN.

Again we are in 2 Corinthians 10. If you do not have a Bible and would like one, we have some at our Welcome desk, please feel free to grab one at any time, that is our gift to you.

If you are using one of our Sermon Notebooks, which can also be found at the welcome desk,

I have titled this sermon: “Waging War”

Our Big Idea is: Though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

We are about to begin the final section or movement in this letter. In the first 7 chapters, Paul commended and encouraged the Corinthians in their willingness to reconcile with him. He spent the time building them up and reminding them of the things he taught and showed them when he was there last. He encouraged forgiveness among them and endurance to the end. He reminded them of the gospel as a treasure they carry as in a jar of clay. They walk in weak vessels, but the treasure is so wondrous it makes the jar infinitely more valuable, as breakable as it is. Regardless, when all is said and done, they will receive heavenly dwellings beyond what they can even imagine, these will be theirs because of the work of Christ, because in him they were adopted as sons and daughters of God, they were reconciled to him and given the ministry of reconciliation. Having been given this ministry they are sent out as ambassadors of reconciliation on behalf of God. With this Paul was overjoyed to receive word from them about their repentance and willingness to reconcile with him.

In the second movement, Paul encouraged this church in Corinth to continue gathering the collection for the impoverished church in Jerusalem who had been persecuted and may also have entered into a famine. The church had been so earnest to promise a shocking amount of aid for their sister church. However, with the relational tension and the doubts sown in their in hearts and minds by false apostles, Paul is encouraging them to honor their word. He had been telling the other churches of the Corinthian’s earnestness and they were sacrificially pouring forth generosity out of their abundance of joy. Paul didn’t think this was entirely necessary to bring up, but didn’t want the church to be humiliated, nor did he want them to be put upon and feel forced to give when they were not able. He wanted them to give as they were able from a heart of cheer and joy.

Now, we are entering the final movement of this book. This is where Paul shifts his focus to take on the slander of the false apostles leading this church to reject Paul. There is a lot to unpack in this section, but one theme I want to point out at the offset is the theme of weakness and strength. It will take many forms as we go, but Paul is driving at an important point to which I think we should pay close attention. We cannot be strong as the world is strong and expect to be affective as Christians and as a church, God does not need our strength, we need his. God shows off his strength in our weakness, because in our weakness we resemble the Son of God who took on weakness to seek and save that which was lost.

2 Corinthians 10:1-7 1 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2 I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we.

Lets Pray: Our Father, thank you for your inspired by your Spirit and put to page by your Apostle Paul. I pray you use it in us to shape and guide us. Reveal our sin, reshape our desires, and transform us more and more into the image of your son. Teach us your ways, O Lord, show us your paths, guide us in wisdom for your glory. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.

Big Idea: Though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

I have two points: First, Meek Authority. Second, Waging war in the Spirit

First, Meek Authority

1 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2 I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.

Meek Authority

Beginning in verse 1, Paul begins his final movement of this letter. I don’t know if you noticed, but his tone shifts a bit from what we have read so far in this book. He begins by entreating them. He does this personally. He is speaking by himself, for himself. Up to this point he has been speaking on behalf of his entire team. He is eagerly appealing to them, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. What is that about? He is not appealing to them by Christ’s power, his divinity, his holiness, his sacrifice, his glory, mercy, or grace. Paul is appealing by his meekness and gentleness. Don’t ignore this because it is Paul’s key defense for how he holds his authority and how he walks as an apostle, we will come back to it.

He continues to his request, saying he begs them that they allow him to not have to show boldness and such confidence he expects to have to show to certain individuals. He is referring to his detractors who he suspects have been leading the church away from him and away from the gospel by appealing to their worldly expectations. They accuse him of walking according to the flesh, that he is a weak leader and a coward who does not walk in faith.

Meek Authority is not like the World’s Authority

Lets take a moment to process: Paul begins this section with an appeal by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. This introduces the major theme for the rest of this book. In fact, it has been there the entire time, but moving forward it will become more and more explicit. (If you are curious, I would encourage you to go back and read the book with our weakness and God’s strength in mind, it begins to stand out more and more clearly.)

As Christians we believe in authority, Not just that it exists in the world, but that we are to submit to our authorities, and there are times when we find ourselves as the ones in authority. Jesus showed and taught us how to submit to our authorities (even when they are unjust), and he showed us how to exercise authority rightly. We are not to lord authority over one another like the gentiles do, to do so is to walk according to the flesh.

Matthew 20:25–28 “25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This isn’t to say authority will not exist within the context of Christ’s church, but it should be exercised in a manner similar to how Christ exercised his authority. It was never something he demanded, yet it was something the people saw in him as he taught. He didn’t exercise it for his own gain, but used it to heal the broken, forgive the sinners, and to build up and equip his disciples. He didn’t use it to raise himself above others, but instead sat with the lowly, the tax collectors and the sinners. Ultimately, he used it to serve, by laying his life down as a ransom for many.

Those who belong to Jesus, if they find themselves in a position of authority, ought to pay close attention to this. This is how we ought to exercise authority. It is clear, at least to me, this is what Paul wants to be. He isn’t perfect, but Christ is his example.

Meek Authority leads with Meekness and Gentleness

Paul is begging them to allow him the ability to walk like Jesus walked, to lead as Jesus led, with meekness and gentleness.

Now, These words are similar in meaning, but there is subtle difference. One is an attitude of mercy, the other is an exercise of that mercy.

I have heard Meekness defined as strength under control. Some even consider it an expression of temperance, one of the cardinal virtues. So if meekness is temperance, self-control, over strength, then gentleness is the expression of that meekness. I can’t help but think of loving fathers acting with tenderness toward their infant children. Jesus, more than any other, expressed meekness. Everything was made through him, yet he allowed himself to be arrested, unjustly tried, and crucified.

However, the Corinthians, partially influenced by their own worldly expectations, and spurred on by the influence of Paul’s opponents, saw this sort of meekness as weakness. Paul is very capable of giving them what they seem to want, but he would rather walk as Jesus walked. The irony is they accuse him of walking according to the flesh because he is in fact refusing to walk according to the flesh.

Meek Authority builds up

In the final part of this section, he makes it clear Jesus gives authority so that it would be used to build up, not for tearing down. Paul speaks of it this way in Ephesians 4:11-16

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ultimately, those given gifts and authority are given by Christ to the church to equip her to do the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ. It is not about the leader, it is about Christ and his church. In my opinion, one of the most dangerous things which has occurred within the church is the misapplication of authority and the elevation of pastors. We have celebrity pastors now. We are to be shepherds, servants who are equipping and building up the church, not building mini kingdoms for ourselves.

As we consider this kind of authority, I have some questions for you. Do you bear the responsibility which comes with authority? How do you carry it? Do you lead with your strength, do you Lord it over others? Men, do you Lord it over your wives or your children, people who work for you? Women, do you exercise authority over your children this way, or over those you lead in the workplace?

Do you submit to your authorities in the world? Do you pay your taxes, respect your bosses, and your spouse? We are called to submit to our earthly authorities because we are not waging war according to the flesh. God likes to show off his strength in our weakness, meekness is allowing him to work by keeping our strength under control and behaving with gentleness.

Though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

First, Meek Authority,

Second, Waging war in the Spirit

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we.

Waging war in the Spirit

Paul mentioned in the previous section they accused him of not walking according to the flesh. In verse 3, Paul turns this statement on its head and uses it literally, that while he does in fact walk in the flesh, obviously as a physical being, he does not wage war according to the flesh. They are not fighting a war against the flesh, nor is it against human beings per say. This means their weapons are not designed for fighting in the flesh, and yet they have divine power to destroy strongholds. I find this mildly hilarious because it is as if he is saying, sure, I don’t carry the sword you expect, but I have a spiritual siege engine in my back pocket. The contrast is so incredibly stark as to make their critique ridiculous.

They destroy arguments and lofty opinions raised like battlements against the knowledge of God. They take every thought as a captive in war and are ready to punish every disobedience. Paul understands who his true enemy is, he knows what his battle ground is, and he knows who the victor will be. With this, the Corinthians are none of them, they are his allies if they are truly in Christ. With that said, he wants to be able to exercise his responsibilities as an apostle, he wants to utilize his authority with the meekness and gentleness of Christ to build them up, not to destroy them. He wants to walk in a manner which will bring glory to Christ, that he might not be ashamed.

Paul makes it clear, that while he is a physical being, he does not wage war according to the flesh. As I said, the comparison between what he is in the flesh and the arsenal he wields in the Spirit are on completely different levels.

This is important, we can look around and see our weakness as a church and lament, or we can remember where our strength lies. We are not strong as a church because we have money. We are not strong because we have people. We are not strong because we have one particular preacher or pastor. We are strong because we have the Spirit of Christ dwelling within each and every one of us who has put our faith in him.

We need to remember, we are not waging a public relations campaign for Jesus. We aren’t the ones who do most of the work. We are ambassadors of reconciliation, we simply carry a message. He is the one in charge, he is the one doing the heavy lifting. We are in a cosmic war, but we do not fight this war like others.

First, we are not fighting alone. Jesus, said he would be with us always, even to the end of the age. He told us that he would send his Spirit who would seal us and would give us power, then with him empowering us, we would be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. Additionally, while Christ is with us and will never forsake us, we have a brother on our right and a sister on our left. We are all empowered by the Spirit to walk in faith as a an attacking force against the kingdom of the dominion of death. We lock our shields of faith together to defend one another against the flaming darts of the enemy. Your faith can defend me, and mine can defend you.

Second, we are supposed to be on the offense, not defense. We know this war is won, the outcome is absolutely certain, but we still have many battles to fight. Jesus said on this rock he will build his church and the gates of Hades (the kingdom of the dominion of death) will not stand against it. That said, our enemy wins the battle if we never show up to fight. If we circle the proverbial wagons to protect ourselves, we lose. If we aren’t gracious and patient toward one another, if we turn on one another and fight over small things we lose. If we fail to recognize temptation and sin to be used as an attack to distract us from the battle, we lose.

We need to recognize the need to keep taking the battle to the enemy, while also caring for our brothers and sisters like medics on the battle-field. We cannot give up the battle while caring for our own, we do both.

Fourth, we are not fighting against flesh and blood. Our fight is not against people, but those who hold people captive. We fight the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit who even now is at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of the flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath with the rest of mankind. We are not fighting mankind, though they can at times be wielded as weapons against us, they are not our enemies, they are the battleground.

Fifth, since we do not fight a war of the flesh, our weapons are not of the flesh. We fight with the Spirit of God and his Word, and with our faith. This is why a simple fisherman can take captive 3000 souls in an afternoon, because they are wielding a power much greater than anything physical. Church, we wield the same power by the Spirit of God. We are weak in an of ourselves, but we can do nothing apart from Christ, but in him, according to his will, we can do anything!

In Conclusion: Though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

This means the way submit to and exercise authority is not according to the flesh. When we bear the responsibility of authority we bear it with meekness and gentleness, like Jesus. We walk in the Spirit and wage war in the Spirit, this means we submit to our earthly authorities because we know who our true battle is against and who will win. We also recognize who our true enemy is, the dragon who has been a liar and a murder from the beginning. He is the one who deceived our mother Eve into taking the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He is the one who has led our world into chaos, bondage, and death.

Yes, we are responsible for our sin, but humanity has been taken captive by Satan, who prey’s on our desires and keeps us under the wrath of God by blinding us to the truth. We wage war against this sad being by winning captives. We do so when they believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and receive the forgiveness of their sin, take up their cross and follow him. He leads them out of our enemy’s kingdom of death onto paths of righteousness for his namesake.

We wage war with one spiritual weapon of war, the tactical nuke that is the word of God. We use it to proclaim the gospel of peace to those who do not yet know Jesus that they would believe and be saved.

If anyone here is ready to put your faith in Jesus Christ, come find me, I would like to talk to you.

For those who are believers, it is time to remember what we are fighting and for what. We are not fighting one another, our enemy is distracting us to keep us from winning captives from him in Sheffield and the surrounding towns. We do this, not in our own power, but by the power which comes through the Spirit of God because we are abiding in Christ our savior. Our warfare from there is an outworking of the resulting hope and joy.

Lets Pray: Our Father, help us to see. We are called to storm the gates. We are laying siege to them. Father, give us the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, enlighten our hearts, that we may know what is the hope to which you have called us, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of you power toward us who believe, according to the working of your great might that you worked in Christ when you raised him from the dead and seated him at your right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. We know you put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Be with us, help us to abide in Christ our savior, and to walk in meekness and gentleness as we walk in the flesh, but don’t wage war according to the flesh.

…As you walk in meekness, but wage war according to the power of the Spirit