THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE

 THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE

2 Corinthians 10:1-6 (KJV)

Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

 

I said in the last lesson that verses one and two of this chapter give to us two “tools” for dealing with troublemakers in church. Those tools are

·   Beseeching and

·   Boldness

 

I not that the beseeching took place first. The Apostle Paul would have much preferred to see those troublemakers, the Judaizers, repent, get right with God and submit to the gospel message he preached.

 

But then he warned them, if they did not repent, he was quite capable of being so bold they might mistake it for “walking according to the flesh.”

 

I used the word “tools.”

 

The Bible defines that tool of boldness with the word “weapons.”

 

The Word of God takes troublemakers in the church very seriously!

 

It calls it a war and

It tells us there are weapons

 

*I. THE NATURE OF THE WEAPONS

2 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV)

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

 

I have no shortage of material to work with here because the New Testament is very specific concerning this subject and what these weapons are.

 

Ephesians 6:10-18 (KJV)

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 

Three things:

A. It’s not carnal

Ephesians 6:10-13 (KJV)

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

 

But it is mighty.

That means it is authoritative. It’s not milquetoast. The devil will flee.

 

B. We have armor

Ephesians 6:14-17a (KJV)

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, …

 

Armor is defensive. Its purpose is to stop the blows of the enemy.

 

C. We have weapons

Ephesians 6:17-18 (KJV)

… and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 

Prayer and ministry of the Word are the two things the Apostles said they would give themselves to.

 

*II. THE OBJECTIVE OF OUR WEAPONS

2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV)

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

 

These Judaizers imagined all sorts of doctrines that deviated from those the Apostle taught.

 

The objective of our contest is to

A. Cast down imaginations

In other words, dispose of false doctrines

 

B. Capture every thought

I want to teach people not to let their minds run to and fro with every wind of doctrine.

 

C. Bring them into the obedience of Christ

The carnal mind is rebellious. It wants control. The objective of the Bible preacher is to stomp out the rebellious mind and bring it into the obedience of Christ.

 

*III. THE INCLINATION OF OUR WEAPONS

2 Corinthians 10:6 (KJV)

And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

 

The inclination is “readiness.”

 

A good military is well trained and always ready.

 

The Apostle Paul was prepared and ready to deal with spiritual hooligans.

 

But there is an interesting construction to this verse.

 

He was ready, but not everyone else was.

 

Albert Barnes writes these words, 

“… Paul was ready to inflict

discipline when the church had showed a readiness to obey his laws, and to do its own duty - delicately intimating that the reason why it was not done was the lack of entire promptness in the church itself, and that it could not be done on any offender as long as the church itself was not prepared to sustain him.”

 

In other words, Paul was ready to take on the troublemakers, but he knew the church would not support him in it.

 

Barnes goes on to say, 

“The church was to discountenance the enemies of the Redeemer; to show an entire readiness to sustain the apostle, and to unite with him in the effort to maintain the discipline of Christ’s house.”

 

For his conflict with the troublemakers to have a successful outcome, the rest of the people of the church must support him by discontinuing fellowship with them.

 

Anything else will lead to less than complete victory and, rather than ever seeing those people repent, will likely lead to more getting wrapped up I their error.

 

It’s one of the problems we have these days with people like Stephen Anderson, post or mid- tribulation doctrine, Reformation doctrine and all the rest of the false doctrine crowd. 

 

Christians refuse to support their pastor’s ministry by separating themselves from those groups.[1]

 

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[1] Remember, the goal is always their reconciliation. By not supporting the pastor because you “love” the troublemaker or because you don’t like confrontation, or because you want to see them reconciled, you are actually preventing them from being reconciled.