A Winnable War
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Cor. 10:3-5, NIV
A Winnable War
(1 Cor. 10:3-6)
Intro:
A. On September 11, 2001 at 8:46 a.m. - American Flight 11 from Boston crashed into the North Tower at the World Trade Center. Onlookers were stunned and the media focused national attention immediately on lower Manhattan. At 9:03 a.m. - United Flight 175 from Boston crashed into the South Tower at the World Trade Center. It became apparent in that moment that we were not simply witnessing an awful tragedy. A plane would crash into the Pentagon and another right here in western PA. Evil was at work. This country entered into what was referred to as “the war on terror.” It would have to be fought in ways we had never fought before, because the enemy was not just one person or one country, but war against who we are as a nation and what we stand for.
B. We heard about late it last year, but most dismissed it. A new virus in another part of the world was beginning to spread. But by March this church leadership had to make a decision about public gathering as health officials began to tell us that a SARS virus we call COVID-19 was easily spread and for some would bring death with little help available from our vast medical knowledge. To this day some of us choose to wear masks to help protect others.
C. There is a war going on and we are in it. I don’t mean the war on terror or the Corona Virus. I mean a spiritual war. God never said that living in the pathway of righteousness was going to be easy. He did not say that when we were saved that we would never battle sin again. In fact, the Bible teaches the opposite. Jesus told his disciples that just as the world hated him, the world would hate them. Peter says that the world thinks it strange that you don’t continue to do the same things you once did before you were saved.
D. Brethren, we are at war and it war is messy. War has casualties. War has battles that are won and battles that are lost. The challenge is to be engaged in spiritual warfare, but many would rather hide and hope the enemy just goes away. Why did the Israelites wander for 40 years? They saw the giants and were afraid to take the land God gave them. When the Midianites oppressed Israel, Gideon was hiding in a winepress. When Goliath taunted Israel, King Saul was hiding in his tent. Paul says that “we do not wage war as the world does.” The teaching is one of going on the offense.
E. To the Ephesians Paul would speak about spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-13). If you think you are so insignificant that the powers of evil will simply leave you alone you are wrong. The moment you were baptized into Christ the Holy Spirit took up residence in you. That marked you for a spiritual battle. That brings us to our text 2 Cor. 10:3.
I. The War
A. The truth is we are flesh and blood and our enemy is not. Just like fighting a war against terror or a virus that we don’t see with the naked eye, our ability has some limitations. For Paul, the enemy centered on false teaching and false teachers that he sarcastically calls “super apostles.” This was a battle for truth. It was a battle that would take place in the hearts and minds of Christians.
B. The battle for truth in the early church has extended for the last 2000 years. If truth were accepted we would not have hundreds of different religious bodies that call themselves Christian. Satan is powerful, but he is not God. Satan seeks to make strongholds. Each of us must examine ourselves to see if sin has made a stronghold in us.
C. These strongholds of evil appear to have their root in our mind. Sin loves to take hold of your thoughts. If Satan can control our minds he can eventually control our actions. The battle is to take back the control of our thoughts; to take captive every thought and to make it obedient to Christ. The battle we are in is often very personal. But what weapons do we have for such a battle for truth and our mind?
II. The Weapons
A. If the war is the false teachings and the captivities of our mind in a sinful nature, how do I fight? It seems as though it is a losing battle. I have never met a perfect Christian who has so mastered self-control as to never sin again. Are we doomed to failure? Are we doomed to defeat? Paul’s answer is a resounding, NO!” READ 2 Cor. 10:4-5
B. Look to the weapons. The weapons we use are not of the world, instead, they have divine powers to demolish strongholds. I don’t know what Paul had in mind, but his phrase took me back to the days of Joshua and first battle that would take place after they crossed the Jordon, the battle of Jericho. Jericho was not a small town with a little wall. The wall was their greatest defense. They could prepare for a long siege but that is not what took place.
C. For seven days the Israelites marched around the wall. I could only imagine what the people inside Jericho were thinking. On that seventh day they marched around it seven time. They blew horns and the people shouted and the wall collapsed. Why did the wall of Jericho fall? It wasn’t anything the Israelites did themselves. It was God.
D. We have God who fights for us. The war for truth and the battle for the stronghold of our mind is a winnable war. As Paul tells the church in Rome, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” and “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Rom. 8:31, 37)
E. Two of the weapons we use to fight this spiritual war are God’s word and prayer. I believe they are the most powerful weapons we have. With sword of truth and in all type of prayer we find God at work in the battle.
F. What do we find Jesus doing when Satan attacks him in the wilderness? Jesus is in communication with God and uses the words of scripture to defeat the power of Satan. I would guess that’s a great place for me start.
Conclusion:
A. There is a war going on. There are strongholds for evil, but the power of God at work in you is greater. If we can help you take hold the power, pray with you and for you, walk beside you in your personal battle, then come as we stand and sing.
Because of Jesus,
Jeffrey Dillinger, minister