2 Cor 10:1-6
We are at war, we’re all engaged the battle. We are Christian soldiers fighting against the kingdom of darkness. You are in the greatest battle in time and eternity. Satan has a strategy for the world, he deceives the whole world. He uses internationalism to get control. He has a strategy for the unsaved he blinds their eyes lest they see the glorious light of the gospel. He has a strategy for the believer . He targets you. He wants to destroy you or your faith. How does he do it?
Satan’s Strategy for You. We will look at this later. 1. He wants to destroy your belief in the word of God; gets you to ignore it, to question its authenticity; 2 he accuses you; 3 he hinders you from doing Gods will; 4 he gets your eyes of the Lord; 5. He gets your eyes upon people, things or self.
The Christian has three enemies and we fight on three fronts: the world, the flesh and the Devil. The world excludes Jesus Christ in its thinking. It sees everything from a human viewpoint. Is the chief enemy of God and the Christian. The flesh is the enemy within, the self life. The Devil is the enemy without. He is the source of all evil. He is a lair, a murderer from the beginning. He is a counterfeiter, he has his own preachers and evangelists (2 Cor. 11:13-15). He is the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), “the ruler of this world” (John 16:11), and the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). Paul reminds Timothy of the urgency of fighting the good fight (1 Tim. 1:8). He says in 2 Timothy 2:3, “Endure hardness or suffering as a soldier.” In Ephesians 6 tells us about the armour for warfare, “Take on the whole armour of God for we’re wrestling not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and the rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies.” You have to have the weapons. Paul had on the armour, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith and so on. He knew what it was to use it and fight with it. We’re engaged in warfare on a supernatural level against demonic hosts. The battle is long and fierce, lives are at stake. The Christian soldier needs equipment, courage, but courage alone is not enough. You need strength, patience, information and wisdom as he engages in spiritual war. It will mean you will come under attack and also that you and some of your comrades will get wounded and fall. However we must be courageous and continue to fight and be determined to defeat the enemy. Our Lord Jesus has won the battle and we are fighting from a place of victory. You need to be armed and learn how to use your equipment. You will need insight to understand the enemy and his formidable character and tactics. You have necessary equipment and the ability.
Unconventional Warfare
Vs 3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.” Pauls method of warfare had nothing to do with the flesh. He did not use human means, or words, or arguments. He is not using physical or fleshy methods that his opposers accused him of doing. He does not walk in the flesh morally. He a believer but is using divine weapons. He is drawing from a divine source.
The same applies to you, you are human but you need to fight with divine weapons. God created you the way you are, weaknesses and all the other human drawbacks. Thank him for who you are, accept yourself as being unique and different. But don’t let your humanity be an excuse for not employing divine weapons. Don’t let this world squeeze you into its mould. Don’t conform to society’s so-called “common-sense.” Society would bring you down to its level via its way of life, its music, its cinema. It has no spiritual challenge or eternal outlook.
Why Fight?
Why fight, why put your life in danger, why take the chance of being wounded? Why bother? Can you just not stay at home with your feet up? What was Paul fighting for and why give his life to this cause? Why was he willing to pay the ultimate price? Was it worth it? He said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:7). He fought for the faith, fought against sin, Satan, the world, demons, he fought for the redemption of sinners and he fought for the church, for the saints. Are we willing to fight because there is an enemy of man who wants to destroy human kind. He is a dastardly foe who is cruel and evil full of lies and deceit. We are fighting because he wants to bring them to hell with him and his angels. Are we willing to fight for the souls of men? Are willing to fight because men are in bondage to sin. And we are fighting for the truth, the preservation and proclamation of the truth. Are we willing to fight alongside our brethren? We are fighting for the cause of Christ, the Captain of our salvation. We are obeying our commander in Chief. He fought for us, he laid down His life for us to save us, we are fighting for him. We are engaged in war. This spiritual war we are engaged in has eternal ramifications.
Cultural Wars
Society has its norms and standards. These fluctuates and change, moral values change with the generations, the foundations of education changes. The world has its standards, its beliefs, its religions, its philosophies. It will try and squeeze you into its mould. You live counter to the culture. You live as an alien in the world, everything in the system is hostile toward you. You can expect to be called in to unjust suffering. You can expect to be harassed and even persecuted for doing what is right. The society will do that to you in various forms and to various degrees. You have been called for this purpose. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. After you’ve suffered a while the Lord’s going to make you perfect. In this world you shall have tribulation but the Bible tells us that tribulation works patience and patience experience and experience hope that’s what are needed in this war. You need to use spiritual weapons, with spiritual tactics. You need to boldly advance into enemy territory. You need strength, the strength of the Lord. You need to protect the truth and confront rebels, and pull down the strongholds of Satan. You need power, the divine power of God.
Divinely Powerful Weapons For the Battle
Vs 4 “We have these divinely powerful weapons for the destruction of fortresses.” Paul rejects all other ideas about how to fight and tells us to fight with the true spiritual weapons. He tells us about the powerful weapons. We do not fight with weapons of the flesh but divinely powerful ones. They’re the weapons of God. They are God’s weapons pulled down from heaven to fight with. God does not use human means or weapons or gimmicks to fight a war. He does not want you to fight with your mental abilities human thinking or power. He does not want you to use clever methods or strategies. He does not fight with guns, bombs or technology. The Christian is fighting on a higher level. He uses truth to pull down strongholds of Satan.
Human weapons have no effect upon demons, or doctrines of demons. The principalities and powers of darkness will not be defeated with human weapons. These rulers of the darkness are defeated with weapons of light that expose them, weapons that are greater than them, weapons that release those who are held captive by them. The battle is not fought on a human level. Human weapons have no affect in the spiritual realm, on the kingdom of darkness.
The weapons of the world are human reason, human wisdom, political persuasions, arguments of rationalism. It manufactures its own religions fuelled by doctrines if demons. It devises, human plans and strategies to rule and captivate minds. It organizes its own government’s and policies and leaves God out. Spin doctors use their skilful weapons to delude man. They use psychological speculations to control many. Their weapons of philosophical have blinded many to the truth. The world builds its own environments with ungodly tools. The Christian fights them on a higher level and pulls down these high thoughts and imaginations of men.
Only powerful spiritual weapons will pull down this formidable foe. Ancient cities built very strong formidable places, fortified and impregnable. They became the place to which the inhabitants of the city could retreat when they were engaged in a great conflict and from which they could defend themselves successfully. Many cities had the entire city walled and fortified with exterior and interior walls,
great massive thick stone walls. These forts often had great towers, parapets from which people could scout and see encroaching enemy armies and from which they could fire whatever weaponry they had at their disposal.
Paul is saying we’ve got some very formidable enemies to deal with and the weapons that it’s going to take to smash, demolish, these fortresses are divinely powerful weapons. The word also, can mean prison. These people who are entrenched in these great fortresses are also imprisoned in them. The very place they think is their refuge is the place where they are prisoners. And their fortress becomes ultimately their tomb. They are the prisons of the damned.
These great fortifications are never to be assaulted by some human means, or with human weapons or methods. No human is smarter than the Devil or can pull down the strongholds that have imprisoned sinners. Paul tells us how to demolish demolish them.
What are these weapons?
Are they political? Should we not pull down Satan with politics? Are they educational? Will we not bring understanding, progress and peace by means of education? No! Are they social reform? Can we fix society’s ills by reforming it? No! They are not social, they are not human plans. Can philosophy change the sinful lives of men? No! What about science ? Surely it holds the answers, it can prolong our lives, fix our illness but can it, give eternal life? Or hope beyond the grave? No! They might fight the war against poverty or ignorance or illness but none of these can fight the spiritual warfare. They cannot destroy the evil forces in our world. They cannot bring permanent change. But Paul tells us of divine weapons that will deal with these things.
We find these weapons though out scripture these are the weapons with which we are to are fight, they are spiritual. Elijah used them to defeat 300 false prophets, Daniel used them to understand Gods will. David used them to defeat Goliath. Paul used them to pull down spiritual strongholds. The disciples used them when they were cast into prison and put to death for following Christ. The early Christians used them when they lost everything for becoming disciples of Christ.
All of us face problems, normal, common problems — depression, discouragement, ill health, lack of money, social pressures, family troubles, in-laws, greed, guilt, shame. As a society, we face problems together — race tensions, war, poverty, air and water pollution, inflation, death, taxes, all these common problems.
Our weapons are truth, love, righteousness, and faith-prayer. These are the weapons of our warfare. They are not carnal, they are not of the flesh, they are not of the world; but they are mighty. They have divine power to the eliminating of strongholds, pulling down high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. They all work together. You can hardly isolate the one from the other; they are all necessary. And when the church begins to major on these weapons she will once again become a mighty power in society, a tremendously potent force, a ferment let loose which will rapidly change the outward circumstances, the face of things as they are. Then the church will once again be what God designed it to be — in those glowing words in the Song of Solomon, an army “Bright as the moon, glorious as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,” Song 6:10)
Weapons For the Battle of Life
Truth –The Word of God
First, we must place truth: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12). When we talk about the word of God, we are talking not about the word of Plato or Socrates. We’re not talking about a political leader. The word of a politician is not like the word of God. The word of God is living and powerful. We’re not talking about a Cameron or the Queens speech. They all make promises they cannot keep. They are limited in their understanding of the world. The word of God, the word of God is so different, it is absolute truth. It’s quick and powerful, “Sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit,” it’s penetrating. It penetrates the soul and spirit. It goes were no man can go. What God speaks “pierces” in a penetrating way that it can divide between soul and spirit, something you and I could never do. By truth I do not mean education, political ideas or social philosophy. The world thinks this is the most effective way to solve the problems of society. Modern man has never had as much knowledge and information but it is not very good in solving problems, it is a powerful weapon. Education may give knowledge and information but it does not always give wisdom and truth. Text books are changing all the time, they become obsolete, there is something wrong, they don’t have infallible truth. They find flaws in their science books, in their evolutionary theories, things that Paul calls “science falsely so called.” There is true science and philosophical science. One must sift out the fantasy, the theory from the real truth. Many were taught erroneous ideas in school or university years ago and such errors had to be corrected. Education based upon truth is good education. Paul proclaimed the truth of the gospel to deal with underhand ways, cunning lies and blind minds (1Cor. 4:2-6; Rom. 1:16).
Truth is the chief weapon of the Christian. The Christian soldier in Ephesians 6 has this great weapon “the Sword of the Spirit,” the Truth. We are called to a spiritual war. The weapon of truth will defeat the enemy. We pull down fortresses of lies with truth.
Jesus used the truth when he was tempted in the wilderness. Three times he destroyed Satan’s strongholds of lies. Jesus said he was the TRUTH. He exposed the lies of religion, the heart s of men and pulled away the curtain to expose the demons. He told it how it was he tore away the illusions and delusions men had. He corrected wrong thinking, wrong belief. Jesus is the Word of God, the Truth. He is our major weapon.
Christian should be truthful people and the world must see that. The church must honest and expose the worlds lies. It should not sit quietly back and accept everything that happens. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32 ) Weapons For the Battle of Life
What the Weapons Do –
The Divine Weapons Can Destroy Fortresses
Paul’s weapons are effective in doing two things. Vs 4-5
Vs 4 First they demolish strongholds or a “fortified place” and second Paul’s weapons can also take captive (to take a prisoner of war) every thought to make it obedient to Christ. The picture is of an army attacking and tearing down the fortified defences of the enemy. In the ancient world a prosperous city would build a great for its security and somewhere inside the wall, a fortified tower that could be defended by a few soldiers if the main walls were breached by an enemy. Once the stronghold was taken, the battle was over. In ancient times this was commonly accomplished through a variety of siege machines, the most common being battering rams, mobile towers, catapults for throwing darts and the ballistae for throwing stones.
Definition of Fortresses
Vs 5 “Even” we are even destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.” The strongholds that Paul’s weapons lay siege to are arguments and every pretension or arrogances(raised ramparts) reasonings that take shape in the mind and are then worked out in life as action. These have built fortresses with high towers aimed at repelling attacks by the knowledge of God . A fortress is anything that is against God. It includes religions, philosophies, psychological theory’s, political concepts, human speculation and opinions. It is man starting with the wrong premise. The divine weapons can destroy any argument these set up.
We are destroying these fortresses and exposing the thoughts, ideas, concepts, and opinions of men, so that they cannot hide in them. We are in combat with the worldly reasoning’s and religions, we are in conflict with them. We are not friends with the world. We pull down and expose the world system and build with the truth.
These fortresses are things men have set up with the help of doctrines of demons. We are fighting against these doctrines let the Lord take care of the demons. We are to confront them and expose them and the demons will hate us for it. Spiritual warfare is no us going on a “Jesus March” or going into the high places to bind demons over cities. People have been doing that for many years and the cities are getting worse. But when we preach the word and expose the enemy men are released from Satanic strongholds. Million have been released from these stronghold by a powerful gospel.
The Divine Weapons Can Take Captives
Verse 5, “We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” This second weapon can also take captive (to take a prisoner of war) every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Paul pictures human thoughts as captured enemy soldiers who after the walls were pulled down were marched at the end of a spear through the streets of Rome and brought before the triumphant victor, we bring them to Jesus Christ.
Paul was a confident and a competent soldier destroying fortresses, and he is telling u how to go about it. How to pull down the human fortresses of thoughts and philosophies. We can do it with divine weapons.
“We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” There’s only one way to destroy error and that is with truth. The only way you can take wrong thoughts and make them right is to replace error with truth.