Being Gospel Focoused: To Be All Things To All People.
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22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
Who is Paul?
Who is Paul?
Paul was born in about AD 14 as Saul of Tarsus. His parents sent a young Saul to Pharisee School under the best of leaders Gamaliel.
He was becoming the best that the Pharisees had to offer. He was an expert of the Law...The 627 rules and laws that governed daily life of a Jew.
These same rules and laws kept every non-Jew at arms length from the Jew.
From Saul’s birth in AD 14 and schooling until AD 30, he was being setup for the best of lives. He would not have had a need that was not met in some way by Judaism, by the law or through his family.
Paul testifies to his background in a several places
4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
At one point Paul was sitting atop his own world… And that world came tumbling down.
13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
For all of his adult life until about 30. Paul lived the life of a well-to-do, well connected Jew who had NO regard for Gentiles, pagans and others who could not add to his credentials. Except in persecuting them.
And one day as he journeyed to Damascus...
14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,
17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you
18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
God in just a few short sentences lays out clearly for Paul what his calling was going to be.
Paul’s rapid, dramatic change in the direction of his life meant that he was no longer of the ruling body but was now an enemy of the status quo and everything that it stood for.
The timeline is this…
Paul was born in approximately AD 14. By the time he was about 30 years old he was being called upon to change the world after being struck down blind.
He received his sight, went to the desert of Arabia and processed the whole of the Old Testament with Gospel eyes and a Gospel driven mind and heart.
Paul’s goal: To correct 4000 years of wrongs and to preach the Gospel of Christ to ALL for the next 50 years or so.
The name “Paul” or “Saul” appears in 237 passages. Paul is the subject of 1700+ sentences, Paul wrote 3/4 of the New Testament as we have it today.
A question you might ask… Do we follow Paul or do we follow God. I’ll answer it this way…
God saw the necessity of a Paul to reach out and complete His mission to the Gentiles. You see Christ came primarily to bring a reconciliation and redemption to Jews and Paul was now chosen to bring that same message to Jews, Gentiles, Pagans and everyone that would listen.
Paul’s job description contained two words...
Steward - The word describes his relationship to the Lord. He served and was faithful to the Lord’s desires.
And...
Witness - Paul’s post conversion life was committed to Jews and Gentiles and the rest of the world united in faith in Christ.
Our passage of scripture is 2Corinthians 10. Turn there if you would...
Paul is in the final writing on his 3rd trip or 3rd letter to the people of Corinth.
Apparently he feels necessary to defend his ministry.
I think most of here are reading in the NIV or ESV or KJV. I want to read this in a different translation than you maybe are familiar with. This is the Passion Translation.
3 For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign employing human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims. Instead, our spiritual weapons are energized with divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide.
5 We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.
6 Since we are armed with such dynamic weaponry, we stand ready to punish any trace of rebellion, as soon as you choose complete obedience.
7 You seem to always be looking at people by their outward appearances. If someone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself of this: we belong to Christ no less than he does.
8 I am not ashamed, even if I’ve come across as one who has overstated the authority given to us by the Lord. For it is the authority to help build you up, not tear you down.
So our BIG QUESTION for the day is this…
What are those “Spiritual Weapons” charged with “dynamic weaponry” that we have at our disposal?
Let’s begin looking at some of the verses
There is a combo verse in the Passion Translation verses 3-4. Let’s take a look at that
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
Some people are just naturally scrappy, we fight with our gloves on and our gloves off.
We always fight to win. And take no prisoners along the way.
We walk in a fleshly manner. Because we are “flesh and blood” BUT...
All battles are SPIRITUAL BATTLES...
Heaven and Hell are real.
Jesus, God and the Spirit are opposed to EVERYTHING that is of satan.
Everything is Spiritual...Any action or activity that is NOT from God is from satan.
And V.4
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Now this seems ominous. Our weapons are not bullets, blades, missiles or mortars. But we have “divine power.”
POINT #1-- What are the weapons available to fight this fight
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Part of our BIG QUESTION answered… Our weapons are not of this world… They give us the power of God.
Lets look at 2Cor10.5.
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
POINT #2 - “We destroy...” We dismantle, we tear down, we flaten our enemies.
What do we destroy???
“…every lofty opinion...” You know what opinions are? According to Dave Ramsey… Opinions are like armpits we both have two and they both stink.
That have raised up against knowledge of God
“…Knowledge of God...” How do you expect to get this knowledge of God, from golfing, fishing, hunting.
Now I’m not trying to being hard on you but...
Our priority in spiritual growth is scripture.
Our priority in scripture is discipleship.
Our priority in scripture is fellowship.
Our priority in scripture is not forsaking the assembly.
Our priority must be the reading and the doing of scripture.
POINT #3 - Our responsibility is the plain reading and doing of Scripture.
Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a sick and dying world and use as few a words at possible.
Preach the Gospel to yourself each and every day.
Show the world, so Sunnyside that you are ready to do Spiritual Battle for your vey soul and you will battle for the souls of this community that yet do not now Jesus as Savior.
Why has God given us this burden, why has he give us this power… why does Paul give it to us again and again
8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.
It is for our “building up” and its so we are not ashamed of this Gospel that we so love and so talk about and use to defend our actions.
Vs 15 & 16
15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged,
16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence.
Our boasting, if there is any boasting that as your faith grows.
You begin to use your faith, you begin to change minds and convert souls to the end of the world and to the ever expanding ways of God and Christ in our world today.
It is the only antidote that there is for every evil and horrible thing in our world.
17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Find a mountain top and scream from the highest one that you can find...
I love Jesus… And I want you to love Him too
So our BIG QUESTION for the day is this…
What are those “Spiritual Weapons” charged with “dynamic weaponry” that we have at our disposal?
I hope that we answered that for you.
Let’s Pray!