Spiritual Battles & the Weapons For Warfare

Transcript

GR 1821
11/15/2015
Spiritual Battles and the Weapons for Warfare
2 Corinthians 10:1-6
Gil Rugh

We're going to 2 Corinthians in your Bibles, 2 Corinthians 10. We come to a new section in the book of 2 Corinthians, all part of one letter but he has an additional focus. In chapters 8-9 he talked about money, the collection that was being taken at Corinth to help meet the needs of poor Jewish believers in the church at Jerusalem. Before that he talked about the ministry of the new covenant that God had given to him and to the church in these days. That covered from chapter 2, the middle there, into chapter 7. Now with chapter 10 he's going back to pick up on an emphasis he had at the beginning of the letter in the first chapter. In chapters 10-13 we're going to be in the most personal section of all Paul's writings. We will learn more about Paul personally and his life and ministry in these chapters than we do anywhere else in the Word of God. We have material included here that is not included in the book of Acts. Remember the book of Acts written by Luke, who also wrote the gospel of Luke, is unfolding the history of the church in its early years. It's not a biography of Paul, it's not a biography of Peter. They are the two key individuals, Peter in the first part of the book of Acts, Paul in the second part. But the purpose is not to give the biography of these men. The purpose is to unfold the history of the church and these two individuals are key in that history. But in 2 Corinthians Paul is talking about himself personally, particularly in chapters 10-13. So they become important for that. And of course the Spirit put them here for our learning, understanding and appreciation.

As we've talked about, the church at Corinth is a mixed church. It is a church that manifests the grace of God in a variety of ways. It is a gifted church, but it is a church that constantly struggles with division, conflicts, and the failure to handle those in the way they should. And that will become a focus beginning in chapter 10. There is always a battle for leadership and Paul is putting forth why God has placed him in the position he is in and that the Corinthian church needs to deal with some of the false teachers who have infiltrated among the church.

Now back in chapter 1 we got a little bit of a preview of what Paul is going to be covering more fully here. Come back to 2 Corinthians 1, and we just pick up in verses 12-24. And what Paul is doing here is having to defend his own character and some of the things he has done. Because the false teachers influenced the Corinthians to not trust Paul, that will turn them away from the message that Paul is preaching as well. So Paul is concerned here. In 2 Corinthians 1:12 he says, “For our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our conscience.” Really what he is saying is I have ministered to you with a clear conscience. “The testimony of our conscience is this, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially toward you.” And if you remember back when we studied 2 Corinthians 1, there was an attack on Paul's personal integrity and reliability. They are attacking him for not being consistent. Verse 13, “We write nothing else to you than what you read and understand. I hope you will understand that until the end.” And on it goes. Accused of well, he has heard one thing here, another here; he said one thing when he was present with you, he is doing another thing here. Its center will be in false teachers who have infiltrated among the church, but it has an influence. When you hear these things, they begin to affect your thinking. The church at Corinth, reflected in his first letter, it's reflected in the second letter. Paul is constantly coming back to his own personal integrity and the reliability of his ministry. Verse 17, “Was I vacillating when I intended to do this?” His travel plans had changed, remember, and we talked about that some were accusing him of not being reliable. He said he would do this and he didn't. We got a taste of this.

Now we come to 2 Corinthians 10 and in chapters 10-13 Paul is going to have to deal more thoroughly with his own personal integrity and with the integrity of his ministry and specifically and very firmly say the devil has planted some people in the church at Corinth and they are instruments of the devil. So a serious matter.

We pick up with 2 Corinthians 10:1, “Now I Paul myself,” and you get a sense of the personal appeal that is coming. I, Paul, myself, this comes from me, this comes from my heart. “I urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who am meek when face to face with you but bold toward you when absent.” And right away we are drawn in to the issues that have been brought up. Note the last part of that, “I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent.” And one of the criticisms of Paul, well, when he is present, he is a pretty weak, timid person. Meekness to them was a negative. Not so different, we are in a Greek city, the Greeks admired, like we admire people of wisdom, people of stature, people that come across with some dynamic personal attraction. They are saying that Paul, when he is present, he is pretty meek. When he is absent, he is really bold. Again, inconsistency, not genuine. Paul softens this by mentioning Christ in what he says, “I urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” The reminder, when I am accused of being meek, I am reflecting the character of Jesus Christ. That is not a negative. My desire is to be like Him, shouldn't the church desire that? Why is that a criticism that he is meek when he is present with you?

Come back to Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle, meek and humble in heart.” Christ didn't shy away from being considered, this was part of the problem the Jews had, He didn't come with power, He didn't come with that majesty and impressiveness of person that we expect from our king. I am meek and humble in heart. It was reflected in His character, in His person. Remember when He rode into Jerusalem on the donkey at the close of His ministry, fulfilling Zechariah who prophesied that your king comes to you meek and lowly, riding on a colt of donkey. This is a criticism? Sometimes we have to stop and think. Now that doesn't mean that Paul is inconsistent, and he is going to explain. Some of the boldness I express in my writing is so that I can be more gentle when we are together.

Sort of like if you were gone on vacation without the kids, a real vacation, and you wrote a letter back, or an e-mail I guess today, but you told them what you expected and what needed to be done and the condition you want the house to be in and all of this. And maybe how they conducted themselves, or the babysitter or whatever, grandparents. You write that and then you may say in there, if you haven't done this, there will be discipline when I come. But what you really like is to get back and find out the kids were perfect and they did everything that you wanted them to do, and their rooms are clean and spotless, then you'd be suspicious but this is just for the illustration. Then you just put your arms around them, love them, everything, that's the way you wanted it to be when you were finally together. But if not, then you have to be firm and harsh and it's not really what you want.

That's how Paul is dealing with the church at Corinth. There is an element of truth in what is said, but it's not because Paul is not genuine in character, because he is really concerned about them. And when he does have a chance to be with the, he wants to be with them and have an enjoyable, relaxed time, so to speak. He doesn't want to have to come and make corrections. He would like them to make the corrections and deal with what needs to be dealt with before he comes. Then when I come, it can be more of an enjoyable time for us all.

So it's the meekness and gentleness of Christ. You may as well come back to Philippians 2 also, same idea is expressed. Philippians 2, encouraging the unity of the church as he starts out Philippians 2, encouraging them in verse 2, “to be of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent in one purpose.” What will help that, enable that to be? “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind,” here we get this lowliness again, “humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not look out for your own personal interests but for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” There it is, similar kind of thing which he is saying to the Corinthians. I have the meekness and gentleness of Christ, Christ claimed to be meek and humble. Here part of the problem comes when we strive for power, for influence. We think of ourselves better than others and we admire that in a person.

We are doing Presidential candidates and those who seem to come out strong and clear and decisive, people sometimes say they are Presidential. Another day they would have said they are kingly. Israel liked Saul because he looked like a king, he is head and shoulders above the others, he is a strapping warrior, he looks like a king should look. He carries himself like a king. The problem is this comes into the church and we get focused on what Paul is going to talk about as physical things rather than true spiritual power that is at work.

So come back to 2 Corinthians 10. “I myself Paul urge you,” he doesn't command them, he doesn't assert his apostolic authority, that will come out later, but it's an appeal from his heart. And “I do it by the meekness and gentleness of Christ who am meek when face to face with you but bold toward you when absent.” Now let's correct any misunderstanding, “I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the same confidence which I propose to be courageous against some who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.” That's the point we were making. I'm doing this in this letter and I've written boldly to you. He wrote the first letter with boldness to them, covered things that had to be corrected. Why? So that I don't have to deal with you that way when I come.

Now you'll note the separation that takes place here, and it's going to become even clearer as we move through these chapters. “So I do not need to be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some.” Not everybody in the church at Corinth, but he's giving the church at Corinth a chance to correct things. But there are some that will not be correctable, and some of these false teachers are representatives of the devil, as he'll talk about in chapter 11. There is no turning them. And those who even are believers who persist in being off track, Paul will have to deal with. But the point is “I propose to be courageous against some.” And it's those who are particularly attacking him, those “who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.” There were those false teachers that had infiltrated at Corinth, and we'll talk more about their character and who they might be as we move further into these chapters. But they say Paul has no real spiritual power. “He walks according to the flesh,” he carries out his ministry just in the physical realm. But they are the ones who are only functioning on the physical level because they think that power comes from personal presence, from your intellect, superior intellect, from your superior speaking abilities, from the dynamic of your person. And they are accusing Paul of not really being an instrument of God.

“They regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.” Now verse 3 clarifies it, and verses 3-6 are one long sentence, we've broken it up in English which helps. “For though we walk,” verse 3, “we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.” They accused him of, at the end of verse 2, “walking according to the flesh.” He says, no, we walk in the flesh but we don't war according to the flesh. In other words I am just a man, I'm just flesh and blood, I'm a normal human being in that sense, so we do walk in the flesh. And he had the same physical issues that others might have. He can have physical afflictions, he suffered physically. He'll talk about those things in this section as well, these chapters. So yes, he's a normal human being. When he was in a shipwreck, he held onto boards to stay afloat. He didn't walk across the water to the land. He was a normal human being.

But the mistake is they are accusing him of warring according to the flesh. Now you note a change has occurred here. “They regard us as if we walk,” the end of verse 2, “according to the flesh.” Verse 3, “Though we walk in the flesh we do not,” he has changed the word. He doesn't say we do not walk according to the flesh, he says we do not war. For the walk of Paul in dealing with spiritual issues is a war and he makes clear here and he brings right in early the intensity of the conflict that he sees is being carried out. This is not just a walk, we use the expression like it's not a walk in the park. This is not just a walk, this is a war. So “we walk in the flesh,” he had to travel like everybody else did to get to Corinth—walk, go by ship, whatever. We're talking about here now what is going on, “we do not war according to the flesh.” One of Paul's repeated metaphors, pictures, is the Christian life is a war. He saw what was going on in the church at Corinth as a war. We like to think of the church as a place of peace, and that's what he encouraged in Philippians 2, but the fact is there are battles to be fought. And Paul is indicating when he said in verse 2, he proposes to be bold and courageous against some, he's talking about doing battle. And he's involved in a spiritual warfare.

He'll elaborate this in verse 4. “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh.” That's a mistake. As you look at me just physically, you may question my speaking ability, whether I'm the most intelligent person, whether I have the dynamic to be viewed as a leader. All these things. The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but “they are divinely powerful.” This is the distinction. The Corinthians should not be confused on this. Who brought them the Gospel that brought their salvation? Who is nurturing them and grounding them in the truth so that they are growing? The weapons of our warfare are divinely powerful. You don't accomplish this with human means. The church continues to drift in this. We come up with methodologies to build large churches, to gather people and every so often we get new books and a new idea on what the church ought to be and how it ought to grow. And if somebody has a work that is growing we say, we ought to adopt their methods. It continues to go. And we like to say we are not influenced by it, but we are. Paul says there is a difference between worldly methods and God's methods.

“The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but they are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” Now put this together, we walk in the flesh, we don't war in the flesh. Come back to Romans 8 and then the weapons of our warfare. Romans 8, just before the letters to the Corinthians. Paul uses this same comparison. Look at the end of Romans 8:4, he talks about the requirements of the law being fulfilled in us, note the end of verse 4, “who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” We're not walking according to the flesh because a transformation has been brought about in the saving grace of God. Now we walk according to the Spirit. That's why we don't war according to the flesh, there has been a change. “Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; those who are according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit. The mind set on the flesh is death; the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” It's the same contrast Paul is drawing in 2 Corinthians 10. Now these false teachers are accusing Paul of walking according to the flesh, they are challenging his genuineness as a servant of God. Obviously if that gets undermined the message that he preached gets undermined. “The mind set on the flesh is death,” those are people that are spiritually dead, on their way to an eternal death, in contrast to those whose mind is on the Spirit.

“The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God,” verse 7. “It does not subject itself to the Law of God, it has no power to do so.” It's not able. That's why we sometimes say the unbeliever can never do anything pleasing to God. We don't want to get confused on that. It's hostile toward God, whatever the superficial appearance may be from time to time every unbeliever lives his life in consistent, constant, unrelenting opposition to God. Hostile to God, that's what it says. “The mind set on the flesh is hostile to God,” and in the context here the mind set on the flesh is the mind of everyone who has not experienced God's redeeming, saving grace through faith in Christ. Well, I know some good people. Again, God is looking below the veneer, below the surface, the heart that is desperately wicked above all things.

“The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. Those,” verse 8, “who are in the flesh cannot please God.” That's why we say the unbeliever never does anything that is pleasing to God, he cannot please God. The mind is hostile to Him. “However you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Because the Spirit of Christ and Christ Himself comes and takes up residence in us when we are saved. That's the truth. So everyone is divided into two groups, two categories—those who have the Spirit, those who don't; those who live according to the flesh, those who live according to the Spirit. But what about those in the middle? There are no middle people. Jesus said “he who is not with Me is against Me.” He did not say he who is not with Me is undecided. This is the view of Scripture.

What they are accusing Paul of is, he is not really God's servant and representative. That's what will really undermine him. They say he walks according to the flesh, that's all he is, and he's not very good at that. Just think about it, wouldn't you expect someone more dynamic and more intellectual arguments if he were really here to represent the living God who is the God of wisdom. We admire it, look at what the church wants, they want people who are physically appealing and they look good. I watched one of them on TV this morning for a little bit, and I have to say he is a tremendous speaker. I wish I could talk like he does. I still remember his catchy phrases, one was you are pregnant with possibility. I haven't forgotten it, that's good. You are pregnant with possibility. Doesn't mean anything, but he is captivating. We like these kinds of people. He is good looking and there are thousands of people there. What he is saying, though, is just not true but people are drawn to that. We are drawn, even in our evangelical world. What are we looking for? Sometimes seeing things, what churches are looking for in a pastor. I said, “Whatever happened to being able to teach the Word?” Looking for someone who is a strong leader, someone who is visionary. Great list, too bad they didn't check the Scripture. This is what we have come to.

That's what Paul is fighting against in the church at Rome. This is the same thing in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” I'm still living in this physical body but I'm not living according to the flesh anymore. I'm a Spirit-controlled, Spirit-driven person. That doesn't mean I'm living a perfect life, there are stumbles, but my whole life has been changed. “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things pass away, new things come.”

Come back to 2 Corinthians 10, then we'll jump off again. We don't walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. Look at verse 4, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh.” That doesn't mean that you don't work to do the best you can, that I shouldn't prepare my sermons or try to speak clearly and those kinds of things. But really the weapons that we have are not physical weapons. The weapons of our warfare, now he is in to the warfare analogy. That transition in verse 3 from walking to warring is crucial, and the church can never forget we are in a war. Otherwise we begin to think this ought to be peaceful. It's a war, the devil doesn't quit. “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but they are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” Those things would be set up, in biblical times those walled cities and how are you going to break in there. And these are powerful weapons, weapons from God. They have the power of God with them, this is what we have to have. That's why Paul talks about this warfare. We realize we can't do it in and of ourselves.

Come over to Ephesians, Paul elaborates on the warfare. Ephesians 6, and Paul says in verse 10, “Finally be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might.” We are called and we are involved in a war that our own strength is worthless. You are no match for the devil. You “put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the strategies of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies.” What fool thinks he can successfully do battle against the devil in his own strength? He has wisdom greater than the thousand wisest men I would take it, on the earth. He is the one who rules the kingdoms of this world. Remember he tempted Christ by saying fall down and worship me and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world. We are under his authority. He is not as powerful as God but don't you think you mere physical being are any match for the devil. And we come up with these strategies for the church and we move away from the Word of God and we think we are doing something. Yes, we've begun to do the work of the devil. We're doing spiritual battle, that's why we need God's power. You take up the full armor of God, you stand firm and the offensive weapon here is the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, verse 17. That's what we have to have. What are our divine weapons, weapons that are divinely powerful? It's the Word of God, it's the truth concerning Christ, it's Romans 1. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation.

Come to 1 Timothy 1:18, writing to Timothy, “This command I entrust to you, Timothy my son, in accordance with the prophecies made concerning you,” note this, “that by them you might fight the good fight.” That's the thing you keep in mind, we are in a fight, we are fighting the good fight, we are engaged in the war, doing it. “Keeping faith in a good conscience.”

Come over to 2 Timothy 2. Paul warns Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, of cowardice.” So Paul is accused of being weak but he wasn't afraid and timid and cowardly in his spirit. In his demeanor and his approach he may have come across as meek. There were occasions when he didn't, just like Christ. The same Christ who said I am meek and lowly drove the moneychangers out of the temple with whips. No one sees Christ as weak even though He is meek. So he tells Timothy here we don't have the spirit of cowardice when it comes to the ministry of God's truth. And he says in verse 8, “Don't be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord or of me his prisoner. Join with me in suffering for the Gospel according to the power of God.” You come down into 2 Timothy 2, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Pass these truths on that you have heard to others.” Verse 3, “Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Paul viewed his life as a servant of Jesus Christ as a soldier. If the devil is an unrelenting enemy of God, an unrelenting opponent of the people of God, it means we are never out of the battle. And it is a tactic of the devil to think we are.

I remember reading about one of the wars we were in when I was much younger and the enemy there after they had really won said, “well, one of our strategies was we just continued to follow the Americans without engaging them because we didn't have the firepower they did. But over time they got lax, they got careless. They would think we can ease up a little bit here and take it a little easy. And that opened the door, then, for us to attack them when they were expecting.” That's the way the devil is. Well, I don't think the devil is really serious about attacking me, our church. No, the battle is never over, he is unrelenting. One thing he has that works so well, he just doesn't quit. Do you understand the hostility of the devil toward you as a child of God is ongoing 24 hours a day? He has identified you as an enemy that he must do everything he can to destroy? Not just Paul, Paul passes on to Timothy, and the more faithful you try to be, the more intense the battle will get. You render some ineffective by just trying to get them out of the battle. And as long as they are not faithful in serving the Lord as they should, they are not as big an enemy. So you want to get the devil off your back? Just go home and go to bed and don't get out. But then you are disobeying the Lord. So Paul has called to join the war.

Come back to 2 Corinthians. “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, they are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” Come back to 1 Corinthians 1. Remember when Paul came to Corinth he has to remind the Corinthians, these are the same issues that have come up in the first letter. 1 Corinthians 1:17, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel, not in cleverness of speech, not in wisdom of speech so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Now note this, “For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” You see what God's plan for the destruction of the fortresses is? Destruction of men and their ideas that stand against God? It's the Gospel. Nothing can stand against it, it is the power of God for salvation. We lulled into thinking, well, if I were a better this, a better speaker, I wish I had a greater intellect. Paul says I didn't use any of that. That would have nullified the Gospel. If I win people over to follow me because of the power of my intellect, I haven't seen them become followers of Christ. He doesn't want to, at the end of verse 17, “make the cross of Christ void.” And every attempt to appeal just to the intellect of men is emptying the cross of its effectiveness. Why? The word of the cross is foolishness, that's why we keep trying to get around it, that's why we talk to people about God. We want to interact with them and seem intelligent. One of the catastrophes for the church in the modern day, and for me the modern day is different from many of you, but back in the 1940s and 1950s, the good ol' days, they came up with an idea that old style fundamentalism had a negative image among people, fundamental Bible-believers weren't among the intellectuals. They were just Bible thumpers. You know the Scopes trial and all of that. They said we have to have a Christianity among other things that is intellectually respectable. We will show that Christians can compete intellectually on the same level as the best of the unbelievers. And that spread through Christianity, it spread through the evangelical world. The problem is nothing changed—the cross is still foolishness to the unbeliever. You get no respect from the unbeliever. So we keep making more and more adjustments. You have to adopt the critical methods of approaching Scripture that the unbeliever uses, otherwise you are not scholarly. And you can't believe in the full inspiration of Scripture because our critical methods have shown that that wouldn't be acceptable. And more and more and more is given away. And where do we end up? We give up the power to gain respectability?

Paul says the word of the cross is foolishness. The issue is, are you willing to be a fool for Christ? Why is it so hard to talk to someone about the Gospel? You know, I am a sinner, you are a sinner. The penalty for our sin is death and the only solution to our sin is the one provided by God. His Son died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. There is no other solution, there is no other way of salvation and forgiveness. That's so simple, but our tongue turns to cotton. We can talk about God and we can talk about things in the world. Just hard to come out. Do you know why? It's a spiritual battle. The devil is whispering in our ear, you don't want to say that, they are going to think you are an idiot. You don't want to talk about that, they'll think you are narrow. You don't want to say that, I thought he was more intelligent than that.

“The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of forces. “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the cleverness of the clever.” Do you know why? This cuts through and people get saved, and it's the only way they can get saved. And they don't get saved because someone overpowered them with their intellectual arguments. They get saved because the Gospel is the power of God. God set aside the wisdom. It is shown to fail. The wisdom of the world can't save the world. The further it departs from the truth of God, the messier it gets.

Verse 21, “Since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. The Jews seek for signs, the Greeks search for wisdom.” I mean, the church at Corinth had been planted in Greek culture—Socrates, Plato, all these great philosophers. And Paul comes into town and he knows the Greeks like to be impressed with your philosophical arguments, your ability to interact on their level. Paul is a very intelligent man, we preach Christ crucified. Jews cause us to stumble, Gentiles think it is moronic. We get the word moron from this word foolishness, stupid. No intelligent people believe it. But we know “it is the power of God and the wisdom of God,” verse 24. And verse 25, “The weakness of God is stronger than men, the foolishness of God is wiser than men.” If we are seeking to impress and attract people with our worldly abilities, we are not attracting them to God. Only God can do the work that God can do. I become His instrument when I give forth His message.

And Paul has a way of putting people in their place. He tells the Corinthians, “look around,” like I would say to you, “look around here this morning at this congregation. Take a moment and look at the person next to you. Do you see anybody intelligent there? Do you see any important people there?” That's what he tells the Corinthians. “Consider your calling, brethren, there aren't many wise according to the flesh, there are not many mighty, there are not many noble. God has chosen the foolish, the weak, the base, the despised.” It can only be God's work because you weren't people impressed with great intellectual arguments, and on and on. And God does it this way, why? Verse 31, “So any boasting is boasting in the Lord.” So Paul says in chapter 2, “I didn't come to you with superiority of speech of wisdom, proclaiming the testimony of God. I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling.” We get the idea when Paul says he will come with boldness, this is not human boldness. He is a human being. He is there in weakness, in fear, much trembling. But he proclaimed a powerful message. The weakness, the fear, the trembling did not keep him from proclaiming the message that had to be proclaimed. And it had its impact.

My preaching, my message was “not in persuasive words of wisdom, in demonstration of the Spirit and of power so your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.” We have succeeded. I've shared with you, many years ago I studied principles of church growth on the west coast and they told me, these principles will work to build big churches no matter what the theology. And they are right. We can build big churches without God, but only God can do the work that God does. And He only does it through the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Come back to Romans, we'll do Romans, then we'll come back to Corinthians and finish up there. Come to Romans 1. I've been referring to Romans 1, referred several times to Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, it's the power of God.” Paul said I want to come to Rome and preach the Gospel. There is already a church there but there are more people to hear the Gospel there. Then he says in verse 18, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” That's why intellectual arguments don't do it because the unbeliever is committed to a program of suppressing the truth and refusing to acknowledge it. It's not because they don't know it, because the arguments haven't been strong enough; they cannot accept it apart from bowing in faith before Jesus Christ. Other than that they will die opposing the truth.

The evidence is overwhelming. The end of verse 20 says “they are without excuse.” Then verse 21, “They knew God, they did not honor Him as God.” Now keep this in mind, this is the next verse we are going to in Corinthians, “They became empty in their speculations,” their reasonings. “Their foolish heart was darkened, they profess to be wise, they became fools.” When you turn away from God's truth and God's wisdom, you are a fool. That's all you are. Doesn't matter the greatest scientist in the world, thinking they are making these great . . . You are a fool. Think about it, our universities populated with fools. Don't want to say that in a misunderstood way. We were all there, but we shouldn't be intimidated. There is not a person in this auditorium who truly knows Jesus Christ who couldn't on the spur of the moment go down and lecture the science professors at the university, because you are not there to lecture them about science and impress them with arguments. You could say I am here to tell you the foundation of true science and what is most important for you, a scientist to know, and without it you live your life as a fool. There is a living God who has made Himself known and He says you are a sinner and lost, on your way to an eternal hell. And He sent His Son Jesus Christ to this earth to die on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins that you cannot pay, and unless you turn from your sin, your trust in your own wisdom, your pride and arrogance and bow before Him in faith, you are doomed forever. If you are a believer, you can do that.

I used to get invited to the university, did you know that? To classes? What do I tell them? I went down, the first time I went, I've shared this story. I boned up on all these things I thought would be current at the time, philosophical, existentialism. And I said, “Well, I have to get their attention so I'll start with that.” Ten minutes in I look around, the class is glassy-eyed. They don't have a clue. So I said, but all this is unimportant. There is only one thing you need to know, then walked them through the Gospel. That's all there is. Many years I was invited to Wesleyan University by a theology professor and I went and presented the Gospel. Do you know what he said afterwards? He told me he didn't believe it, but he said, I knew what you were talking about, Gil. I was raised in a fundamentalist home that taught that, but I don't believe it. But that's still what they have to hear. I can't control whether they believe it and you can't either.

Come back to 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We are destroying speculations.” Remember Romans 1? “They became empty in their speculations.” We just cut through to the heart of it, we're not going to get sidetracked by it. “We are destroying speculations, every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” We bring everything back to one focal point—you must bow before Jesus Christ. That's it. So that's our battle. It doesn't say we are destroying them by overpowering them with our arguments. I don't have any argument except Jesus Christ, the finished work of Christ. This is what destroys them. The wisest man in the world will have to bow before the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ or be lost forever. This is it. We have what they don't know they need. They are suppressing the truth that has been revealed. I don't have to convince them of the truth, they are suppressing it. I just have to tell them the truth of Christ, that there is a God who created everything. That encourages me. We need to be clear in it, but I'm not going to go down and engage in intellectual arguments with a scientist. Do I believe that the arguments of Scripture are correct? Yes, but here is what he needs to know and believe.

And note verse 6, “And we are ready to punish all disobedience whenever your obedience is complete.” Now here Paul sifts out again. In verse 2 he said he was going to be bold and courageous against some when he came. And what he is writing to the Corinthians for, I am delaying for your benefit. Just like with your kids, you give them warning. We're going to stay a little bit longer where we are, but when we get home we're going to deal with what needs to be done. So he is saying I'm just waiting to give you more time to deal with what you need to deal with, and to deal with that false teaching that is going on. And Paul would prefer, as much as possible, that they clear up things here. So he will deal with the disobedience. He will deal with it strongly he'll tell them in chapter 13, you need to examine yourself. I don't know whether they are saved or not. “Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.” You know the Spirit of God is within you if you are. The Spirit of God doesn't direct you away from the truth, He directs you into the truth. Then he'll tell them, I hope you have the same confidence in me and know that I am also one who has the Spirit.

So the challenge, it's serious. How does the church get confused on this? Well, little by little the detrimental influences turn attention away from the Word, the desire to fit into the world, to be accepted in the world, to have a greater ministry, whatever. We have to be willing to be fools for Christ. Now don't be a fool who doesn't understand and present the Gospel clearly. Go over it so many times that on the spur of the moment someone says to you, I need you to come and tell this dying person how to go to heaven, and you only have four minutes. Don't stumble around, there are four minutes to eternity. Get right to the point, decide we have to talk about what really matters, we have to get to the heart of the situation. You will shortly face the judge of all men and you are going to be condemned, but there is hope. That's the power. We say that's religious jargon, no intelligent people believe it. The worldly intelligent people, but I tell you there are those who have the wisdom of God, they believe it and we know it's the power of God.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for Your Gospel, the truth of Your Son, the grace that came to our hearts and minds. Lord, where we turn from all our self-confidence, self-assurance, arguments that seem so strong and they crumble because the Spirit brought the conviction that only He can as Your Word was brought to us. May we individually and as a church remain faithful to this truth, be bold in the proclaiming of it. We pray in Christ's name, amen.