Transcript

Waging Spiritual Warfare

2 Corinthians 10:1-6
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Pastor Randy Smith

It's a term we have all heard of. I believe it's a term many of us have even mentioned. For some it evokes a conquering spirit. For others it arouses fear. For most it brings to mind much confusion. What do you think about when I say the words, "spiritual warfare." How would you define it to others? Is spiritual warfare mandatory or optional for believers? Do you practice spiritual warfare yourself? If so, what do you do?

You can see where we are going with this sermon from a passage that I believe is the foundation to all the other passages on spiritual warfare found in the entire Bible. Before I start with the specifics, permit me to establish to context.

False teachers had infiltrated the Corinthian church and led converts that Paul had established away from the true Gospel. In order to do that, they told lies about Paul, attacking him from every possible angle. In an effort to rectify the situation Paul made an emergency visit to the church and he was verbally assaulted. The very people he led to Christ failed to stand by his side. He leaves dejected, but in a final attempt writes what he refers to as a tearful letter. By God's grace the church responded favorably. The majority were convicted and repented. Paul addresses them in chapters 1-7 of 2 Corinthians and especially in chapters 8-9 as it pertained to the financial collection. However, there was still an unrepentant minority. In chapter 10-13, Paul will now turn all his weapons on them in a very direct and forceful way.

Though few punches are pulled in chapter 10-13, it's very interesting how Paul begins addressing the rebels in this final section of his letter. Though emotionally stirred over a very serious threat that could have eternal ramifications on souls, Paul exercises great self-control and does not start with his "guns a-blazing." Though addressing spiritual enemies of Christ, he says in verse one that he is urging them by the "meekness and gentleness of Christ."

Have you seen that recent FedEx commercial? You know, the one about the boss that "always gives the good news in person and the bad news in an e-mail?" This was one of the charges that Paul's opponents also leveled against him. He's big and scary when he hides behind a letter and writes from a safe distance, but when he comes in person he's really a big coward (cf. 10:10) - like the little poodle from behind the fence that boldly barks at a big pit-bull. Paul using his classic sarcasm plays off that lie at the end of verse 1. "I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!"

You see, the false teachers took his meekness and gentleness and compassion as a sign that he was a big wimp. What Paul is about to say here is that we should not confuse the two. There is a time to be patient with sinners, and there is a time when one needs to execute righteous judgment. Paul is only imitating Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the One who was insulted and mistreated by a rebellious audience. Jesus Christ, the One who still spoke strong words. Jesus Christ, the One who was always meek and even laid down His life for the very rebels that abused Him. And like Jesus Christ, Paul is exhibiting the utmost patience at this time, still holding out hope for repentance until the time that he returns and needs to execute swift and righteous judgment.

Consider our Lord's first visit - meek, suffering servant, offering Himself and salvation to those who will receive Him by faith, the lamb of God. And then the second visit - the lion of Judah, condemnation for those who have refused His offer of free grace. Likewise, Paul is being bold now so he won't have to be bold when he arrives.

You see, Paul was preparing for his "third" visit (12:14; 13:1) to the church. He warned in 13:2, "I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare anyone." Or as we see in verse 6 of chapter 10, "And we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete."

I like the way one author put it: "A noble warrior's power is constrained by his compassion and exercised only when there is no other option" (John MacArthur, 2 Corinthians, p. 324). That's the same thing Paul desired and he expressed it in verse 2. "I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh."

Too often the church acts no different than the world. They confuse meekness with weakness. The best definition I've ever heard for meekness is "strength under control." Anybody can fly off the handle. Anybody can also be a cowardly wimp. We follow the example of Christ. We're bold when we need to be, but in all we do we exercise self-control and wise judgment with our words and actions.

You see, the opposition tried to trap Paul. If he's not forceful, he's a coward. Yet if he is forceful, he's not following the gentleness Christ. If he's gentle, he's a wimpy man-pleaser afraid of confrontation, but if he starts throwing his weight around and displaying some righteous anger, then he's not filled with the Spirit - an accusation leveled against him repeatedly and specifically stated at the end of verse 2: "Who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh." Paul is not about to fall for the baited trap. He's simply going to navigate this minefield by walking in the footsteps of Jesus - meekness and gentleness, patience in waiting for repentance, judgment when he arrives.

This now leads him (and us) to our discussion on spiritual warfare.

1. Our Avoidances

The first of three points: "Out Avoidances."

When it comes to spiritual warfare, Paul starts off negatively of what we do not do. Playing off the comment about walking in the flesh at the end of verse 2, in verse 3 he says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh."

Though Paul could be speaking about his physical flesh (mortal body), I believe he is again using some sarcasm and this verse could best be translated, "Though you accuse us of walking according to our sinful flesh, we do not war according to the sinful flesh." In other words, the Christian life is a continual state of war and while we engage in spiritual warfare we do not wage this war according to the principles of this world such as individual feelings, popular ideologies, worldly perspectives, human reasoning, personal skills, psychological speculation or consumer marketing strategies.

As Ephesians 6 tells us, spiritual warfare "is not against flesh and blood, but against the [demonic] forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). Our fight is against the demonic powers that prop up and lurk behind this evil world system. We are foolish to attempt to fight spiritual forces with fleshly and worldly means. Paul makes this clear at the beginning of verse 4. "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh."

You see, in order to win a war you not only need to identify your enemy and have a plan that will bring about their defeat, you also need clear objectives as to why you have chosen to fight in the first place. So in spiritual warfare, what is our primary goal? Is it to win intellectual arguments? Is it to be sure we elect Christians to political office? Is it to fight for morality in America? Is it to get the world to "like" us and find our beliefs acceptable? These are some good things, but they are not the primary objectives given to us by Christ. Our objectives are to honor and glorify Christ, seek the salvation of the lost and equip believers to grow in their faith.

This is a spiritual war. And to win this spiritual war we need spiritual weapons - not the ones the world and many Christians seek to use only to walk away with a guaranteed defeat.

2. Our Arsenal

So what are our weapons? That takes us to the second point: "Our Arsenal"

We know Paul told us in 2:11 of this letter that Satan has schemes. We are called to not be ignorant of them! The forces of evil have a mapped out a powerful strategy. And highlighted in their strategy is all-out assault to deceive Christians that either a battle is not taking place or to deceive those convinced of the battle to fight with the wrong weapons.

Make no mistake about it. This is a war and you are called to engage in the battle. All Christians are soldiers in a spiritual war being waged against the spiritual forces in the kingdom of darkness. This wartime mentality is all over Scripture. 1 Timothy 1:18 call us to "Fight the good fight" (cf. 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7). Even in 2 Corinthians 6:7 we learned about "the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left." Repeatedly we are called to "stand firm" (1 Cor. 16:13; Eph. 6:11, 13, 14; Phil. 4:1; 1 Thes. 3:8; 2 Thes. 2:15; 1 Pet. 5:12).

And as we speak about weapons, how can we not recall our arsenal, the "full armor of God" listed in Ephesians 6? Girding our loins with truth. Putting on the breastplate of righteousness. On our feet the gospel of peace. Taking up the shield of faith. Wearing the helmet of salvation (Eph. 6:14-16). And one other key component. I'll come back to that in a moment.

You see, Paul did not fight the battle as his contemporaries did both within and outside of the church. He wasn't into manipulation, entertainment, pragmatics or anything that might appeal to the carnal eye. For him this was not about showmanship or charm or persuasive personalities or the powerful rhetoric of his day. He already told the Corinthians in his first letter, "And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God" (1 Cor. 2:4-5).

He needed something not of this world for the spiritual combat, but something according to verse 4 that is "divinely powerful." It's the final piece of spiritual armor from Ephesians 6. It's the only offensive weapon in the listing. It's "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17). Since Satan is the "father of lies" (Jn. 8:44) we combat his deception with truth. What is truth? As Jesus said, "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth" (Jn. 17:17). Let me be very clear, like Jesus when He confronted Satan in the wilderness (Mt. 4:1-11), our primary weapon in spiritual warfare is the Bible.

Listen to Spurgeon, "Now, if our Lord and Master selected this true Jerusalem blade of the Word of God, let us not hesitate for a moment but grasp and hold fast this one true weapon of the saints in all times. Cast away the wooden sword of carnal reasoning. Trust not in human eloquence but arm yourselves with the solemn declaration of God, who cannot lie, and you need not fear Satan and all his hosts. Jesus selected the best weapon. What was best for Him is best for you." (Spiritual Warfare in a Believer's Life, Sermon, Matthew 4:4).

3. Our Arena

Lastly, we ask the question, where does this battle take place? The third point in your outline: "Our Arena."

At the end of verse 4 we see that the goal of our spiritual combat is to destroy "fortresses." (NIV translates the Greek word "strongholds"). Paul chose a term that would have been very familiar to the Corinthians. In their town they had what they called an acropolis. Their acropolis was a formidable stronghold located very high on a hill (theirs was over 1,800 feet in height) that the citizens of the village would run to for protection when their city was under attack. So when Paul spoke of a stronghold, what would have come to their minds is a mighty fortress of protection that was nearly impossible for the enemy to overcome (see Pr. 21:22).

It is also worth noting that this same Greek word was used in the day to refer to a prison or a tomb. In other words, when people retreated to their strongholds, they might have been safe, but they were imprisoned there by the attacking forces. If the attacking forces stayed long enough and the supplies ran short, eventually they would die and their stronghold would inevitably become their tomb.

Likewise people are imprisoned by the demonic forces of this world to believe lies. Satan has entrapped them in what could eventually be their tomb by a false worldview. He and his fallen angels are the source, but he works through the media and popular opinion and entertainment and the school system and misguided parents and misguided friends. It is as Paul said in verse 5 the thoughts that are pumped into their minds - the "speculations (arguments, thoughts) and every lofty thing (pretentions) raised up against the knowledge of God," worldviews and opinions contrary to Scripture.

As you can clearly see, the turf our battle is fought upon is the human mind. It is not about identifying territorial demons or binding demons or rebuking demons. So are we battling the forces of darkness? Yes, because our ultimate battle is "not against flesh and blood" (Eph. 6:12), but no, because we are not called in Scripture to go toe-to-toe engaging in hand-to-hand combat with demonic forces. The war is over the control of human minds. Our aim is to liberate people from demonic strongholds. We are to free the prisoners of war. Our call is to convert not demons, but people. The arena therefore is not mystical, but intellectual.

Therefore we, verse 5, "destroy [intellectual things] raised up against the knowledge of God." How? We already said it. We do it with the Word of God. We combat the error that has already been sown in people's minds with truth. We, verse 5, "are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." This shows that the primary problem is that people have a wrong understanding of Christ.

I think this simple concept from the Bible may be revolutionary to some and liberating to others. Contrary to what is taught by many, John MacArthur does a great job explaining spiritual warfare: "There are no biblical guidelines for exorcism. There is nothing in Scripture that tells a believer to speak to demons, cast them out, bind them, tie them up, or do anything like that. [There is nothing about knowing] magic phrases and secret words… Why would [we] even want to communicate with evil spirits? But [we do] have a lot to say to people who have barricaded themselves in fortresses of demonic lies. I want to do everything I can to tear down those palaces of lies. And the only thing that equips [us] to do that well is the Word of God. Spiritual warfare is all about demolishing evil lies with the truth. Use the authority of God's Word and the power of the gospel to give people the truth. That is what will pull down the fortresses of falsehood. That is the real nature of spiritual warfare."

So in summary, it is the forces of darkness using the human agents of this world. People have been fed and are entrapped in a stronghold of lies. Christians are called to break down these spiritual strongholds with a spiritual arsenal. Our battleground is the mind. The Bible, which is all about Christ (Lk. 24:27, 44), is our primary "divinely powerful" (2 Cor. 10:4) weapon to bring people to "captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5) to be "rescued…from the domain of darkness, and transferred…to the kingdom of [light] (Col. 1:13).