Understanding the Unseen
Matters of the Heart • Sermon • Submitted
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Intro:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Tonight as we continue our series on 2 Corinthians, entitled, [Matters of the Heart], I want to speak on the subject of [Understanding the Unseen].
In many cartoons I watched as a kid, there would be a time when the main character had to make a decision to do the right or wrong thing. To illustrate the difficulty in making the decision, the character would have two beings appear on their shoulders.
On one side a cartoon angel would appear and on the other a cartoon demon. The angel would give the angel good advice and the demon would give bad advice. The outcome of the show depended on whose advice the character took.
While I have not seen this confirmed in scripture, there is an unseen realm that we cannot see with the naked eye. Behind the veil of humanity, there is a realm of good and evil, light and darkness, God and Satan.
When we only compare the two entities, there is no comparison. Good should always overcome evil. Light will always extinguish the darkness. And God will ALWAYS defeat Satan.
What then is the problem in this unseen universe? We are! God has all power and Satan will never beat or conquer God. However, with humanity in the mix, there is potential for problems.
Paul experienced this in his ministry to the Corinthians. As we have studied, Paul dealt with many problems concerning the Corinthians.
They had struggles with matters of the authority, matters of morality, and matters of a Spiritual nature. Why did these problems occur? The fault does not lie with God nor does the fault lie solely with the devil.
The Corinthians had to accept some responsibility. For they allowed the false teachers to sway them. Paul understood this problem, which is why he was patient with them.
Think of all Paul covered in this letter.
Paul addressed his own heartache.
He explained the importance of trusting in Christ’s return.
He reminded them to live a holy life.
He stirred their hearts to continue a lifestyle of faithfulness in giving.
On the surface, he should have come and scolded the Corinthians and confronted them for their many mistakes. Instead, he took the painstaking process of explaining the spiritual matters behind the issues.
It is not that the Corinthians were wicked evil people. It is that they did not understand the nature of spiritual warfare. In our text we read of the difference between the flesh and the spirit.
The flesh describes what we can see, while the spirit describes what is unseen. Paul said it this way in:
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
In many instances the Corinthians had been pitted against one another. There was competition between those:
Led to the Lord by Paul and those led to the Lord by Appolos
Between those who operated in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and those who did not
Between those with money and those who struggled
All throughout 1 Corinthians and now 2 Corinthians Paul had to bring unity between opposing parties. What was the problem? They did not understand the unseen.
Working behind the scenes, the enemy did all he could to bring division, disunity, dissension, and discouragement. Did he work alone?
No, he had willing participants. There were those within the church, namely the Judaizers, who worked feverishly to undo the good work God did through Paul.
I love chapter ten, because it has helped me many times. I am convinced if we begin to understand the unseen, we will learn the source of our problems.
The enemy works behind the scenes to get people pitted against each other. He does this by allowing disagreements to get out of hand.
Paul helps us understand the unseen by showing us three things we possess: [An Unseen Support], [An Unseen Stature], and [An Unseen Status.]
Let’s begin
1. An Unseen Support
1. An Unseen Support
1 Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2 But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
With the absence of Paul, false teachers called the Judaizers infiltrated the Corinthian church with criticisms of Paul. Many people were swayed by this critical spirit.
They accused Paul of being weak. It is as though they explained, “Paul is meek when he is with us, but he writes bold letters when he is far from us. He is two-faced. Which one is it Paul, are you weak or bold? Are you nice or mean?”
Though the Judaizers made the negative claims, where did they originate? They came from the enemy.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
James
There is a difference between genuine concern between two friends. When a friend or spouse comes with a concern or even a constructive criticism, it is for the purpose of helping and leading them to be the best they can be.
That was not what the Judaizers did. They were purposefully sowing seeds of discord. But here is where we need to understand the unseen.
The Judaizers were the vessels of negativity, but the source was the enemy. He wanted to use these people to destroy the church. Thankfully Paul knew the difference.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
The attacks that Paul faced were from the flesh, but the support was spiritual. Our carnal nature, the flesh, says, they gossiped about you, gossip about them.
But people of the Spirit cannot fight fire with fire. Instead, we have spiritual weapons that will pull down the strongholds! With these Spirit-empowered weapons, we are able to cast down arguments and every obstacles that keep people from knowing God!
One author (Swindoll) explains, “In biblical days, cities constructed defenses to protect them from enemy invasions. These included fortresses, elevated places with lookout towers, and lofty, sturdy walls to prevent invaders from gaining easy access.”
The lies and criticisms of the Judaizers should not be able to discourage or distract when we understand the unseen. It is as though the weapons of our warfare are the lookout towers that tell us the enemy is trying to build strongholds of hurt and confusion in our lives.
When we stay close to the Lord, He provides unseen support through His Spirit. He helps us see attacks for what they are. Instead of getting discouraged and defeated by people’s words, we will tear down the strongholds with God’s help!
When the enemy brings anything to us that opposes God’s will, our God empowered weapons, which are unseen, will destroy the strongholds of the enemy.
What are these God-empowered weapons?
Prayer, fasting, praise, worship, or scripture. We cannot destroy the enemy’s attacks with human means. It requires unseen support from the Lord.
2. An Unseen Stature
2. An Unseen Stature
7 Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even so we are Christ’s. 8 For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed—9 lest I seem to terrify you by letters. 10 “For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” 11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.
10:7-11
Though we know much about Paul, we have never seen Paul. Knowing what Paul had to endure, I view Paul as a strong man, tall, a picture of perfect health.
When I think of his speaking abilities, I imagine he was an excellent orator. I view him as a preacher everyone wanted to hear.
Ancient histories say the opposite, “Paul was, ‘a man small in size, bald headed, bandy-legged, well built, with eyebrows meeting, rather long nosed, and full of grace.”
As a smaller man, one with who was meek, his enemies and the enemy confused him as a week man. As one author explains, meekness is not weakness, it is strength under control.
Like all bullies, those who opposed Paul thought they could attack and stop him because of his outward appearance. Obviously they forgot what God told Samuel when he anointed David:
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Paul wanted the Corinthians to learn from his life, the enemy may think we are weak, ineffective, and unimportant. But that is not how God sees us!
When we repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Savior, we have the God of the universe living within us! Because Jesus is on the inside of us and we have been filled with His Spirit, we may not look like much on the outside, but inside of us is the power of heaven!
Because they could not defeat Paul based on external appearances, they turned their attention to his motives. They accused him of misusing his authority as an apostle.
But that was not Paul’s goal. He wanted to edify, not terrify. He was honest in his letters, but he wrote the way he did so he could enjoy his time with the Corinthians when he did see them.
Paul was not power hungry. It is interesting, when people make accusations, they will often accuse us of what they are doing.
Think of children, They will be mean and out of control, the minute a parent brings correction, they will respond: you’re being mean!
They will be mean and out of control, the minute a parent brings correction, they will respond: you’re being mean!
The Judaizers accused Paul of being power hungry, but who was really power hungry? The Judaizers? Paul looked weak on the outside, but he had unseen support from the Holy Spirit, which gave him an unseen stature.
3. An Unseen Status
3. An Unseen Status
12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you.
In our extensive study of Paul, we should notice a pattern. He would go in, lead by the Lord, start a church, stay with them until it able to succeed, then he would go to another assignment.
It was only after he would leave that the false teachers would come into the area. Why? They saw a good thing going and they wanted to get involved and take credit.
They did none of the work, but wanted all of the credit. Because they did not deserve the credit, they would boast about something they did not do.
In their minds, their boasting would give them status in the Kingdom. Paul took a different approach. He would not boast in something he did not do.
For instance, history says the Apostle Thomas made it to India and started the church there. Not once do we read of Paul trying to tie his name to Thomas’ success.
Instead, Paul would only boast in what God did do through him.
14 For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; 15 not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, 16 to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment.
By stating that they were not overextending their authority to the Corinthians shows us that the false teachers claimed Paul did not have authority over the Corinthians.
But that is not true, in God’s eyes, Paul had the ability to lead the Corinthians in the ways of truth, because he had status in heaven. He was the one who started the church there.
Therefore, it was his responsibility to keep the work of God flourishing in Corinth. Instead, he prayed that the church in Corinth would have good status in the area.
Why? Because the gospel needed to go to new places. The church in Corinth could be a strong sending church, IF they would understand the unseen.
Instead of disagreeing over small matters, they should unite around the big picture of what God wanted to do through them. He planned for them to help take the gospel to regions who had not yet heard about Jesus.
So there is a picture, like the cartoon character, Paul on one side doing the work of God, having a right to boast of his status. The Judaizers on the other side who did nothing but tear down the work of God.
But wait, isn’t it wrong to boast? Isn’t it prideful to proclaim one’s status?
17 But “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 18 For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.
Paul defended himself only to bring order to the Corinthians and use his situation as an example. But Paul wanted them to understand, sure, I have done all of this, but I do not deserve the credit.
Because there is an unseen hand working behind the scenes. I am the vessel that God used, but God is the one who did the work in Corinth.
Therefore, IF anyone is to boast in their status, it should be to praise and glorify the status of our Savior! And anyone who commends themselves, remember, it is important for the Lord to commend us for our work!
Close:
When we understand the unseen, it will help us in our walk with God. Think of how good God is to us. He loves us, He is patient with us, He helps us, He cares for us, and He sticks with us.
Wouldn’t it have been easier for God if He had given up after Adam and Eve sinned? Think of how many heartaches and problems humanity has caused for God.
But He has never given up on us. He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place. He sent the Holy Spirit to give us the same power His Son possessed on earth.
So as Christians, we are caught between two worlds, this world and heaven. We are caught between two Kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.
We are flawed flesh who have been redeemed by a Loving God. Though we cannot see Him, we know He is real, and we know He loves us.
We need to understand this, for the God who is unseen, has made Himself real to us! So, to destroy the work of God in us, Satan, who is also unseen, uses the seen to stop us.
I have been attacked by the enemy many times, but I have yet to see him, I do not want to. I have never seen a demon, but I know they exist.
Why? Because Satan uses what we can see, what we can hear, what we can feel, or what we can touch to discourage us.
He will use other people to try and get us off track. And by other people, I mean the things other people say and the things other people do.
This does not mean Satan comes into other people and uses them like a puppet, but he does use what they say and what they do to try and discourage us so he can eventually destroy us.
Let me give a few examples:
Who has ever heard someone say something to us or about us that we didn’t like? The enemy can use those things to consume our thoughts and control us. We can end up discouraged and hurt by something someone said, and more often than not, they didn’t realize they said it or didn’t mean it the way it sounded.
What about when two Christians go through something that hurts their relationship? The enemy can use people’s actions, magnify them, misinterpret them so that we get upset with those who God wants us to love.
My point: we need God’s help to understand the unseen. When the enemy uses people who knowingly or unknowingly hurt us, we can take it out on them or we can take it to the Lord.
If we take our hurts and offenses out on each other, then we are waring against the flesh. But if we take our hurts or offenses to the Lord, then He can give us revelation, teach us through the problem, and make us more like Him.
Let’s pray and ask the Lord to sharpen the weapons of our warfare. Let’s trust Him to help us see what is really going on, giving us revelation so we might be more effective in our service to Him and our service with each other!
